Themes · Where the record comes from
US Mission telegrams
Records drawn from telegrams of the US Mission in Berlin and other US government papers.
16 events: 8 successful escapes and 8 failed attempts. At least 19 people reached the West in these events. The records span 1973–1987. Most used methods: over the wall 6, hidden in vehicles 6, false papers and disguises 3.
Often together with: Allied soldiers and officials (6), Shots fired (6), Allied protests (5), Children and families (4), Escape helpers (4), Paid escape help (3)
20 July 1973 – 21 July 1973
Klaus Gomert at the Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark – shot at, arrested, then expelled to the West
In the night of 19–20 July 1973 East Berlin border guards fired bursts at a person presumably trying to escape by the Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. On 21 July East Berlin police released 18-year-old Klaus Gomert to West Berlin, and ADN claimed he was the would-be escaper – Gomert contradicted parts of the East German account.
25 September 1973
Thirty rounds at four escapers opposite Kohlhasenbrück
On the evening of 25 September 1973 East German border guards fired about thirty rounds at four people apparently trying to cross into the American sector opposite Kohlhasenbrück. The four were led away; several bullets hit apartments on the West Berlin side.
31 October 1973
Juergen Vicari tries to walk through Checkpoint Charlie in a US Army uniform
On 31 October 1973 East German guards at Checkpoint Charlie detained a man seen in US uniform with sergeant's stripes. According to his fiancée he was Juergen Vicari, an East Berlin actor who had planned to walk out through the checkpoint that day.
15 December 1973
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.
16 February 1974
A stranger in US uniform is held back at Checkpoint Charlie
At midday on 16 February 1974 two men in US Army uniform walked towards Checkpoint Charlie from the East. One was a US military policeman; the other, who had fallen in beside him, could show no ID and speak no English, and East German guards took him away.
10 September 1974 – 17 September 1974
A US soldier is stopped at Checkpoint Charlie with two East Germans
On the night of 10 September 1974 East Berlin guards stopped a US Army specialist's private car at Checkpoint Charlie and led a woman away from it. The Soviets held the soldier for a week and said he had tried to smuggle two GDR citizens into West Berlin.
13 October 1974
Felled by a single aimed shot opposite Neukölln
On a Sunday afternoon in October 1974 West Berlin police watched a young man approach the Wall opposite Neukölln. An East German guard knelt and brought him down with one aimed shot; he was carried away, apparently wounded.
30 May 1975
A doctor's family in the boot of a US sergeant's Cadillac
On the evening of 30 May 1975 a US Army staff sergeant drove an East German doctor, his wife and son through Checkpoint Charlie in the boot of his 1969 Cadillac. The East German guards apparently noticed nothing; US military police found the family and took the sergeant into custody on the western side.
15 August 1975
A pregnant woman and her husband behind the back seat of a US sergeant's Chevrolet
Late on 15 August 1975 a US Army sergeant brought an East German couple, the wife pregnant, through Checkpoint Charlie in a hollowed-out space between the back seat and the boot of his Chevrolet. The East German guards looked closely but let him pass; US military police found the couple.
21 November 1975
Thirty rounds near the Waßmannsdorfer Chaussee
On the evening of 21 November 1975 two Kreuzberg residents saw an East German guard fire about 30 rounds from an automatic weapon at an unarmed man apparently trying to cross from the Schönefeld area into the American sector. He lay still for ten minutes before a military vehicle took him away.
21 September 1977
Two brothers in the luggage hold of a French army tour bus
On 21 September 1977 two young East German brothers crawled into the unlocked luggage hold of a French military tour bus parked at the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, and rode in it to West Berlin.
22 April 1978
A 19-year-old reaches Staaken with a bullet wound in his hand
In the early hours of 22 April 1978 a 19-year-old East German turned up at the S-Bahn station in Staaken with a gunshot wound in his hand. He told police he had been fired on as he crossed the border.
June 1978
Two East Germans escape in a Belgian diplomat's car
In June 1978 two East Germans who had befriended a Belgian diplomat in East Berlin knocked him out, altered his identity papers and drove his diplomatic car into West Berlin.
11 June 1978 – 17 June 1978
Two guards in one week dart through the Fichtewiese gate
West Berlin allotment holders reached their gardens in the Fichtewiese exclave through a gate in the Wall, with GDR guards checking their passes. On 11 and 17 June 1978 two of those guards simply ran through the door into the British sector.
25 August 1979
The US ambassador's chauffeur smuggles his family out in the official car
Joerg Habermann, an East German driver assigned to the US ambassador in East Berlin, hid his wife and six-year-old daughter in the boot of the ambassador's car, drove them through Checkpoint Charlie, went back to work – and walked across to the West himself that evening.
18 August 1987
Dogs, three shots and an arrest at the Sonnenallee crossing
Early on 18 August 1987 West Berlin police and customs officers at the Sonnenallee crossing heard dogs barking and three shots on the East Berlin side, then saw border guards lead away a man who had tried to escape. The three Western commandants protested the use of force.
