This Day in History: On this day in 1973, Ude Elke escaped East Germany. The winner of East Germany's gliding championship, Ude Elke, escaped across the fortified border to West Germany by piloting his government-owned competition glider plane from a hill at Neustadt-Glewe. After fleeing the German Democratic Republic, he landed well inside West Germany at a field in Soest.
Many people found creative ways to escape East Germany despite the 27-mile long Berlin Wall. "Train engineer Harry Deterling stole a steam train and drove it through the last station in East Berlin, bringing 25 passengers to the west and prompting big changes to the railroad lines. And Wolfgang Engels, an East German soldier who had helped build the barbed-wire fences that initially separated both Berlins, stole a tank and drove it through the wall itself. Despite getting caught in the barbed wire and shot twice, he managed to escape." Source
In 1979 two families built a make-shift balloon and soared their way to freedom.
"The most famous of these escapes was made by 19-year-old guard Conrad Schumann on August 15, 1961, just the third day of the wall’s construction. Since the “wall” was really just piles of barbed wire at that point, Schumann jumped over the wire in his uniform while toting his machine gun. A photographer caught Schumann’s flying leap, and the jump to freedom became an iconic Cold War image." Source
In 1963 Heinz Meixner removed the windshield in his convertible and packed his mother in the trunk. He drove through the checkpoint and under the 3 foot high barrier.
Many others escaped in tunnels.
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