July 1979 · Hidden in vehicles
Kerstin Land and her partner in a car boot
In July 1979 Kerstin Land, a Leipzig student watched by the Stasi after a leaflet action over Wolf Biermann's expatriation, reached West Berlin with her partner in the boot of a West German car.
Kerstin Land, born in Leipzig in 1957, joined the Junge Gemeinde of the Philippuskirche in Leipzig and came under heavy pressure while training as a teacher. After a leaflet action over the expatriation of the songwriter Wolf Biermann the Stasi kept her under surveillance, and she planned her escape through friends in Hamburg and Bonn.
In July 1979 escape helpers brought her and her partner to West Berlin in the boot of a West German car. Because of the high debts for the escape she could not finish her teacher training and retrained as a nurse.
Sources
- DDR-Zeitzeuge Kerstin LandDDR-Zeitzeuge (Koordinierendes Zeitzeugenbüro, Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen)
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