Escaping the Wall

TUNNEL ESCAPES

In an attempt to escape and gain access to West Berlin a large network of tunnels were built. They were dug mostly by college students, but many people used them. The first known successful tunnel was dug in a graveyard. People brought flowers to a grave and pretended to mourn. Then they would drop out of sight and would never be seen on that side of the wall again. This tunnel was found after a woman accidentally fell into the tunnel and left her baby in a stroller on top. The tunnel was then sealed off. The most successful tunnel was in a basement of a house at 60 Westerstrasse. There were 29 people freed from this location alone.

FLYING OVER THE WALL

Some people even tried to fly over the wall. The families of Wetzels and Strlzycks bought small amounts of nylon cloth. The buying of the cloth secretly and in small amounts didn't raise any suspicion. When they had enough cloth, they sewed it together to form a hot air balloon. They had just enough fuel to get in the air and float over the wall. They reached West Berlin in a few hours. Due to this escape, the purchase of light weight cloth was strictly controlled.

CLIMBING OVER THE WALL

At first a large number of people climbed over the wall with little trouble. The government in East Berlin then outlawed the sale of rope and twine. One of the most well-known people who tried to climb over the wall to escape East Berlin on August 17, 1962 was Peter Fetcher, age 18. He was shot and left to bleed to death. This caused an outcry from the press throughout the world. Over 5,000 people tried to escape by climbing over the wall. About 100 died in the process, most were shot. The last person to get killed trying to climb the wall was Chris Gueffroy.