Joel Vostok
Bizarre Berlin Wall escape attempts – In 2021, the Berlin Wall has been down for over thirty years. First erected as a ramshackle border fence in 1961 and eventually falling as a heavily armoured barrier with a no man’s land in between in 1989, it claimed the lives of 140 people during its 28-year existence. Many of whom were cut down in the no-mans-land between the two fortified walls.
Also known as the Death Strip, this no-mans-land was different than that of the type seen in WW1. This one was entirely under East German control. The Communist authorities of the DDR were determined to stop East German’s fleeing across the wall and into the West. To do so, lethal force was often utilized.
Throughout the existence of the Berlin Wall and its gradual increase of size and fortifications, East Germans seeking to escape to the West had to stay on their toes and devise some seriously ingenious escape methods to evade the DDR troops. In this article, we’re going to delve into five fascinating but underrated Berlin Wall escape attempts that seriously do not get the recognition that they deserve!
The Fake Cow Escape
What better way to kick off an article on Berlin Wall escape attempts than with a story involving a fake cow! This is one of my personal favorite stories to come out of former East Germany. It all started when a gang of prospective West Germans got their hands on a life-size model of a cow with a hollowed-out stomach. I don’t know how and where they found it and I’m not sure I want to.
Basically, these ingenious cow brains threw their fake bovine in the back of a truck and drove it up and down the transit motorway between West Germany and West Berlin. West German’s who made a living from helping people escape (and who got paid very handsomely for it) would conceal East German’s inside the fake cow and drive them over the border into West Germany.
At the border, they would tell the border guards they were simply transporting a display cow when the vehicle was searched. The plan fooled border guards twice but eventually, somebody snitched and the plan failed.
The Killdozer of Berlin Wall Escape Attempts
You’ve all heard of the infamous Killdozer in the USA, right? Well, East Germany had its own version. You see, when it came to trimming the natural weeds and unwanted plants that would grow in no man’s land, the DDR troops used armored bulldozers. 12-tonne bulldozers covered in bulletproof plates, to be exact. However, these contraptions would come back to bite the DDR on the proverbial arse.
Two married couples from the DDR hijacked one of these armored bulldozers and used it to smash their way through a number of border fences. Border guards opened fire on the marauding machinery but to no avail. Eventually, it crashed into a tree on the outskirts of West Berlin. The escapees came out victorious albeit a bit dazed and grazed by bullet wounds, but triumphant.
The Old Folks Tunnel
It goes without saying, you should never underestimate old folks! In the summer of 1982, a gang of East German senior citizens proved that statement correct. Over the space of two weeks, 12 senior citizens of the DDR spent their days underground as they were digging a 32-metre long tunnel from East Germany into West Berlin.
The entrance of the tunnel was concealed under a chicken coop. At almost two metres high, it was strangely oversized for an escape tunnel and required a lot of additional backbreaking work. The reasoning behind it was that the old folk wanted to “walk to freedom with our wives, comfortably and unbowed.” True vintage class!
The AWOL of Berlin Wall Escape Attempts!
This next escape attempt was carried out by an unlikely member of East German society: Major Bruno Krajewsky, a high ranking officer in the border guards stationed at the Berlin Wall! Due to having an impeccable service record, Bruno was tasked with seeking out weaknesses in the Berlin Wall and eliminating them.
But on a dark winters night, Bruno shocked his superiors when he used his privileged position to seek out a weak spot and make his escape into West Berlin! He wasn’t selfish though, he gathered his wife, three kids, and some other family members as he commandeered a rowboat and quietly made his way over a border lake and into the hands of the West German police.
The cops who received him were naturally blown away. They naturally deemed it nigh on impossible to get past the various East German patrol boats. For normal people it would be, but not for a professional border guard like Bruno it wasn’t!
Just Walk Through!
Whilst fairly simplistic in comparison to other escape attempts, this one took some serious balls and was carried out by an East German man with some seriously quick-thinking initiative! Originally revealed from declassified STASI documents, the incident saw a 20-year-old East German man walking on the Friedrichstrasse minding his own business.
When an American coach pulled up to return to West Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie, it drew to a halt to enter the checkpoint. The escapee realized that the bus was obstructing the view of the Border Guards on duty and decided to try his hand at escaping to the West.
He shifted in close to the vehicle as the coach began to move on, using it as a shield. By doing so, he managed to walk through one of the most heavily guarded border crossing points in the whole of the city entirely unnoticed. What a guy!
From old folks walking out with class to people seizing their chance and using audacity as cover, there were truly some incredible attempts at escaping former East Germany! By the way, did you know Putin spent a large chunk of his KGB career in former East Germany?
