5 November 1965 · Guards who fled
Two young conscripts vanish in the fog at Bergmann-Borsig
A two-man patrol of new conscripts from the same home town climbed the fence and the new concrete wall at Wilhelmsruh in thick fog and took their submachine guns with them.
On 5 November 1965 a two-man post of the 31st Border Regiment was on duty next to the Bergmann-Borsig works in Berlin-Wilhelmsruh. Both soldiers came from Mühlhausen, had worked in the same factory and had been called up on the same day in May 1965.
Between 10:00 and 10:40, in heavy fog, they crossed the old border fence and the 2.20 m wall of concrete slabs built in front of it that spring. The neighbouring posts saw nothing.
A patrol arriving at 10:40 found the coil of wire on the fence torn down and a glove caught in the wire. The two had taken their submachine guns and left the rest of their equipment. A civilian photographed the empty watchtower from a Volkswagen on the western side.
The Stasi blamed the company commander, who had let two unproven men from the same town serve together, only a month after another group desertion from the same unit.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1965: Gruppenfahnenflucht von Grenzsoldaten in Berlin-WilhelmsruhStasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (Die DDR im Blick der Stasi)
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
18 October 1963
Border policeman crashes a crawler tractor through the wire
A 22-year-old border policeman assigned to construction work took a tracked vehicle through the wire barriers between Wilhelmsruh and Reinickendorf; when it stuck halfway, he ran the rest of the way to the West.
31 December 1965
Two conscripts flee on New Year's Eve at Gartenstraße
On New Year's Eve 1965 two conscript border soldiers posted at Gartenstraße ran round the S-Bahn entrance, forced their way through barbed-wire and mesh fences and jumped down into West Berlin.
4 September 1963
Jürgen Cr. jumps from the new wall
While guarding engineers who were building a second concrete wall at Bernauer Straße, conscript Jürgen Cr. waited for his partner to go for cigarettes and jumped over the front wall into West Berlin.
9 September 1963
Two border policemen escape from their bulldozer in Falkensee
Two GDR border policemen, aged 20 and 23, who had been levelling the death strip at Falkensee drove their bulldozer up to the barriers, climbed the fences and reached West Berlin unnoticed.
