19 August 1964 · Hidden in vehicles · Checkpoint Charlie
Two Spanish workers and a hidden Pankow man at Checkpoint Charlie
At a quarter to one in the morning two Spanish workers who lived in West Berlin drove up to Checkpoint Charlie in a Renault. The controllers found a young man from Pankow in a hiding place built into the car.
At 0.45 a.m. on 19 August 1964 two Spanish citizens arrived at the Friedrichstraße/Zimmerstraße crossing (Checkpoint Charlie) in a Renault with West Berlin number plates, heading back to West Berlin. Both lived in West Berlin. One, born in 1937, worked at a printing works in Lichterfelde; the other, born in 1925, worked for Borsig AG.
During the check the GDR controllers found a man from Berlin-Pankow, born in 1939, in a hiding place built into the car. The two Spaniards had wanted to smuggle him out to West Berlin.
The Stasi's report of the same day speaks of the arrest of 'Spanish citizens' for attempted smuggling. It gives no further details of what happened to the three men. All names are redacted in the published edition.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1964: Festnahme eines spanischen Bürgers wegen versuchter Schleusung – Einzelinformation Nr. 667/64, 19 August 1964Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
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