5 August 1973 · False papers and disguises · Checkpoint Charlie
Two Poles in US Army uniforms at Checkpoint Charlie
A US citizen tried to take two Polish citizens through Checkpoint Charlie dressed in US Army uniforms; all three were arrested.
At about 9 p.m. on 5 August 1973 the GDR control at the Friedrichstraße/Zimmerstraße crossing arrested a US citizen "deutscher Nationalität", born in 1944 and living in San Diego, as he tried to take two Polish citizens to West Berlin wearing US Army uniforms: a biologist born in 1941 in Gliwice and a porcelain worker, most recently a waiter, born in Berlin in 1944.
Proceedings were opened and arrest warrants issued against all three.
Sources
Whose account is this? Told from GDR records only: documents of the GDR’s police, Stasi or border troops. No other account of the event is cited.
GDR records
- Information Nr. 784/73 über die Festnahme ausländischer Staatsbürger wegen des Versuchs des ungesetzlichen GrenzübertrittsDDR im Blick (Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv)
- Information Nr. 779/73 über die Festnahme eines USA-Bürgers deutscher Nationalität wegen versuchter Ausschleusung polnischer Staatsbürger nach Berlin (West)DDR im Blick (Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv)
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Two Poles in US Army uniforms at Checkpoint Charlie”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/us-army-uniforms-polish-pair-checkpoint-charlie-1973/ (accessed [date]).
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