25 September 1961 · False papers and disguises · Treptow and Neukölln

Out in American uniform jackets on a US sightseeing bus

On 25 September 1961 several young people boarded American buses at the Soviet War Memorial in Treptow, put on American uniform jackets inside and were taken into West Berlin unhindered.

Colour photo of a long formal memorial ground with lawns and stone sarcophagi leading to a grass mound topped by a giant bronze soldier statue, framed by rows of trees.
The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park in August 1963, where the young East Berliners boarded the American buses in 1961 Photo: Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

According to a Stasi report of 1 November 1961, on 25 September 1961 several young people boarded American buses at the memorial in Treptow. Inside the buses they put on American uniform jackets, and in this way they were brought into West Berlin without being stopped.

The Stasi listed this among several methods used to smuggle people into West Berlin: car boots, West Berlin vehicles with diplomatic (CD) plates, and American buses that were in East Berlin on sightseeing trips.

Sources

  1. Jahrgang 1961: Vorkommnisse an der Staatsgrenze West – Bericht Nr. 679/61, 1. November 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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