15 December 1973 · Hidden in vehicles · Checkpoint Charlie
Four East Berliners in the cabinets of a US soldiers' VW bus
On 15 December 1973 a doctor, his wife, their small child and another woman crossed Checkpoint Charlie hidden in cabinets inside a Volkswagen bus with US Army number plates. The East German guards missed them; US military police found them on the western side.
At 5.40 p.m. on 15 December 1973 US military police carried out a routine check on a Volkswagen bus with US Army Europe (USAREUR) number plates that had just come out of East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie. The check took place in a screened area next to the checkpoint. Concealed inside cabinets in the bus were four residents of East Berlin.
They were a doctor, his wife and their small child, and a woman unrelated to them. The refugees were handed over to the Marienfelde refugee centre for interviews and processing.
According to the little the refugees said at first, they had been picked up at the Christmas fair on Alexanderplatz by a 'French car', driven around for some time and then transferred to the US-plated bus in a small side street.
Three soldiers of the US Berlin Brigade, including the owner of the bus, were in the vehicle. They were questioned by the military police but all three refused to make a statement; they were released to their unit and the bus was impounded.
Sources
- Exfiltration by US forces personnel (telegram 1973BERLIN02147, 18 December 1973)US National Archives, Access to Archival Databases (Central Foreign Policy Files, RG 59)
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