Ladder escape from Kleinmachnow
An 18-year-old used a ladder at Erlenweg in Kleinmachnow to get into the death strip and crossed every barrier under fire; a Stasi report blamed a lamp that kept going dark for 30 seconds.
On 14 July 1985 an 18-year-old used a ladder at Erlenweg in Kleinmachnow to climb into the border strip. His presence set off an alarm and border guards opened fire.
Despite the shooting he crossed the patrol road, the anti-vehicle obstacles and the control strip and then climbed over the border fence, reaching Zehlendorf in West Berlin unharmed.
A Stasi report noted that a faulty lamp in the lighting 'goes dark for 30 seconds at regular intervals', which it said had helped the escapee and hampered accurate fire. Photographs of the abandoned ladder and of the escape route were taken for the investigation.
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