October 1961 · Tunnels · Checkpoint Charlie
Michael Synowzik through the sewer under Checkpoint Charlie
In October 1961 the schoolboy Michael Synowzik escaped from East Berlin with his father through the sewers under the Zimmerstraße at Checkpoint Charlie, a month after his older brother had fled through the sewers.
Michael Synowzik, born in 1948, lived with his father at Reinhardtstraße 47 in Berlin-Mitte. His father was a trained tailor who had refused to join the SED. In September 1961 Michael's brother, six years older, had already escaped to the West through the sewers.
In October 1961 the father followed with his younger son. The adults made the plans and chose the sewers under the Zimmerstraße at Checkpoint Charlie as the route; according to the Berliner Kurier they reasoned that if they were discovered there, under the eyes of the American soldiers, they might not be shot at once. The Stiftung Berliner Mauer places the escape shortly before the American and Soviet tanks drew up at the crossing. A Freie Universität report, based on the project team's visit to the route with Synowzik in November 2022, says he spent seven hours in the sewage water.
The ddr-zeitzeuge.de witness portal says Michael reached the West together with his father and his father's partner. Synowzik later wrote the book 'Oktober 1961. Meine Flucht durch die Berliner Kanalisation', and in 2023 the Stiftung Berliner Mauer, with Public History students of the Freie Universität, retold his escape as the messenger project 'Nachricht von Micha'.
Sources
- DDR-Zeitzeuge Michael SynowzikDDR-Zeitzeuge (Koordinierendes Zeitzeugenbüro, Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen)
- Meine Flucht aus der DDR durch die KanalisationBerliner Kurier
- Nachrichten aus dem Jahr 1961: Gemeinschaftsprojekt macht die Zeit des Mauerbaus in Berlin erlebbarFreie Universität Berlin (campus.leben)
- Live-Gespräch mit dem Zeitzeugen Michael SynowzikStiftung Berliner Mauer
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