5 November 1961 · Over the wall
Nine get through the wire between the Pankow cemetery and Schönholz
On 5 November 1961 thirty East Germans tried to get through the barbed wire between the Pankow cemetery and the Schönholz freight yard into West Berlin. A border guard's fire disrupted the attempt, and only nine, five men and four children, got across, the New York Times reported.
At about 4 p.m. on 5 November 1961, as darkness fell, thirty East Germans tried to break through the barbed wire into West Berlin, the New York Times reported the next day. According to the report, the escape had originally been planned by two families, and five other families joined the group at the last minute.
The leader, a 32-year-old roofer, cut through the double barbed-wire barrier between the Pankow cemetery in East Berlin and the Schönholz railway freight yard in the West Berlin borough of Reinickendorf. He crept through the wire with his son, aged five, and his daughter, aged nine. A 14-year-old girl came next, carrying her baby sister. West Berlin police said the baby had a brain disease that could not be treated in East Berlin and would be taken into hospital in West Berlin.
The fire of an East German border guard disrupted the mass flight, and only nine people reached the West: five men and four children. Their relatives, among them the children's mothers, could not get across the barrier. The report does not say what became of them.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from a press report only.
Press
Facts checked against the sources: October 2026
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Nine get through the wire between the Pankow cemetery and Schönholz”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/pankow-cemetery-schoenholz-wire-nine-1961/ (accessed [date]).
Related escapes
3 December 1961
Two adults and three children cut the wire near Dreilinden
On 3 December 1961 two adults and three children escaped near the Dreilinden control point on the autobahn at Drewitz after cutting through the barbed wire unnoticed by the guards; the breakthrough was discovered at about 6.50 p.m.
26 August 1961
A family of five leaves through an allotment at Klemkestraße
On 26 August 1961 a family of five got past the Klemkestraße control point in Pankow by pottering about on an allotment plot until the guards stopped paying attention to them.
1 September 1961
A farmer's family leaves horse, cart and bicycles at the cut wire
On the evening of 1 September 1961 a farmer, his wife and their two children cut through the wire in the Groß Glienicke border sector and reached West Berlin, leaving a horse and cart and three bicycles behind.
9 December 1961
Dieter Wohlfahrt, escape helper shot at Staaken
A 20-year-old West Berlin resident with Austrian citizenship was shot while cutting through the border fence at Staaken to help a woman escape; he had been lured into an ambush and lay for more than an hour in the border strip without help.
