Grey sky portrait, to Berlin Wall guard tower representation, escape to the West panels, Bernauer Strasse at Streliyzer Strasse
German-English panel Bernauer Strasse at Strelitzer Strasse outlining escapes to the West. 'When the border was closed in 1961 many people were cut off from their families and friends in the other part of the city. This increased the pressure on East Berliners to flee. At first people tried to reach the West by finding loopholes in the system of barricades. The buildings on Bernauer Strasse, whose fronts doors opened directly to the West, provided one way out. Although the buildings were guarded by police, a number of people tried to enter them through the back doors on the east side. Some were successful, others who wanted to escape found escape agents to provide them with fake passports and smuggle them to the West. When the border fortifications were expanded and became permanent, many tried to reach the West by going underneath them. Even the sewage system was used as an escape route until the secret police and East German police built barriers into it. A few used the underground tunnels of the subway lines to get out of East Germany. And, finally, fugitives and western escape agents worked for many months digging escape tunnels beneath the Wall to provide new ways to flee. Although the border fortifications became increasingly hermetic and efficient over the years, desperate individuals continued to try to get past Probably 300 escape attempts took place on Bernauer Strasse alone. Approximately 500 people in Berlin managed to escape. But most people were not successful. They were arrested and had to face long prison sentences. In Berlin, 98 people died or were killed while trying to escape.' The photographs show a mass escape, near Potsdamer Platz, probably August 13, 1961, and an iconic poster from the Bonn Peace Forum showing border guard, 19-year old Conrad Schumann, jumping the first barbed wire border fence, August 15, 1961. The background m high weathered steel columns represent a guard tower, demolished 1990, one of five at Bernauer Strasse.
Size: 2762px × 3239px
Location: Berlin Wall escapes Information panel, Bernauer Strasse at Strelitzer Strasse, Berlin, Germany
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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