Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

August 1961 · Guards who fled

A border policeman steals patrol boat G-65 on the Havel

When the boatman stepped ashore for a moment, a young border policeman took the patrol boat – with a carbine, a machine pistol and a flare gun on board – and headed for West Berlin.

A square grey concrete watchtower with a railed roof platform rises behind tall reeds and trees on a riverbank, under a clear blue sky.
The former GDR border watchtower on the Havel shore at Nieder Neuendorf, seen from the river (2018) Photo: Leonhard Lenz. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Stasi situation report of 28 August 1961 lists among the day's desertions a soldier of the Border Police (DGP) from the Groß Glienicke border unit, stationed at the Nieder Neuendorf control point on the Havel.

At about 5.10 p.m. he used a moment when the boatman had left the SMK boat G-65 to desert in it. The boat was assigned to patrol from the Papenbucht to the enclave; its radio was faulty.

He took a carbine, a machine pistol, a flare pistol and a full set of ammunition for each with him. Because of the incident the radio code key of the whole border unit had to be changed.

Sources

  1. Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (12) – Bericht Nr. 494/61, 28 August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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