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Escaping from East Berlin

How a young West German student helped East Berliners escape communism in the boot of a diplomat's car.

How a young West German student helped East Berliners escape communism at the height of the Cold War. Volker Heinz told Robin Lustig how he worked with a Syrian diplomat to smuggle people across the Berlin Wall in the boot of the diplomat's car. From March to September 1966 the pair managed to help more than 60 people to make the crossing.

This programme is a rebroadcast

(Photo: East German border guards in 1966 scanning the Berlin Wall. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

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9 minutes

Last on

Wed 11 Aug 2021 02:50GMT
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The building of the Berlin Wall

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Exiled from East Germany: Wolf Biermann

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  • Tue 10 Aug 2021 07:50GMT
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  • Tue 10 Aug 2021 11:50GMT
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  • Tue 10 Aug 2021 17:50GMT
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  • Wed 11 Aug 2021 02:50GMT
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