Throughout the Cold War, the border between East and West Germany seemed impenetrable. But despite the risk, some East Germans still found the courage to cross the border.
On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, two former East German citizens talk about their incredible journeys out of East Germany:
* Ralph Kabisch constructed an underground tunnel beneath the Berlin Wall in 1961, allowing 57 East Germans to escape to the West. After authorities discovered what later become known as “Tunnel 57,” they stepped up their security efforts to prevent future underground escape attempts. Kabisch later became a tunnel construction engineer and is now retired.
* Toralf Pilz fled to the West in 1988 by crossing through Hungary and the former Yugoslavia. An exceptional athlete, he and a friend swam to freedom across the Danube River, which was part of the Iron Curtain separating Western Europe from Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. Pilz is a German diplomat currently employed in the Caucasus.
Additional panelists include:
* Günter Nooke, a member of the first democratically elected Parliament of the GDR, and currently an adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel
* Dr. Maria Nooke, who runs a museum in Berlin commemorating the fall of the wall at the site of “Tunnel 57″
This program is supported by the German Embassy and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
The moderator was Sonya Gavankar from the Newseum.
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