Those Italians!
Thank you, Bill, this is about Tunnel 29, I never saw it in English, this is by NBC Berlin:
In April 1962 three West-Berlin students decided to help, to build an escape-tunnel from the East to the West of Germany.
They were sick of watch-towers, armed men, traps, cleared zones, forbidden zones, death zones... all that dividing families...
The decision was fool-hearty, but! Hey!
Those (two Italian, one German) guys were clever and went into public, like tourists...
... to find the best spot/route.
They saw, but ever even waved at each other, East and West.
In the East they stood in line for Russian meat and potatoes, another line at the post-office, for food and clothing from relatives from the West, a life without grace.
They had to be quiet, doing the work. they were so close to "life" you could hear the difference between a man´s and a woman´s footstep 15 feet above!
And the VOPOs (communist-police) had listening devices!
20 tons of wood for support they silently moved in there!
And what for?! Primary for their friend, Peter Schmidt, who... was half-Spanish!
He told them "we have no future here".
The tunnel was so long the air grew bad, so they needed to provide that, too!
We´re still talking students here.
WHY, why for heaven´s sake did we at school learn but the little Austrian man who started WW II but not about these people??????
If Peter May was still a teacher I´d ask him to show this to his students, not Rock music in the language lab!
He was cool, he never followed the stupid school-books :-)
Best teacher I ever had!
They... we´re back at the theme that haunts me... worked their Popos off!
And showing what students can do would be the best way, right???
Whilst they dug more than 40 people´d died trying to escape "up there".
Like... jumping from 4th floor. Not into freedom, but death. How desperate these people were, loosing their freedom!
"To the first day of your death - your Daughter and Grandchildren"
And we take it all for granted.
Olga Segler was 81 years of age and shared the fate.
It was a cold, rainy summer, the worst since years.
Water came into the tunnels, oh why would anything be easy? They silently used a hand-pump, 8000 gallons in a week and the water kept coming.
3 weeks of only pumping, mud, mud and mud, wet., muddy clothes. And they were not to be seen in public like that, revealing what they´re doing!
They needed an extra, hidden entrance in West Berlin.
"Der Kleine" was a student from electrical engineering, just like Ingo btw - and he made a lot of improvements (just saying). And after the flood he was back at digging.
Nothing to do at work you´ll find Ingo cleaning the place, broom in hand.
And where put all the earth they dug out? They kept it in the cellar, in more than 4 rooms.
And to add to the complications one was caught and they had to find another route for the tunnel.
But they got going, getting out dirt, bringing in electricity. And got a second, bigger flood.
They helped anyone whose freedom has been stolen.
Friday, September 14th, 6 pm they were to make the break-through in East Berlin.
It took 12 minutes, 8 for the younger ones to pass the tunnel.
It was a risk, you never knew if you could trust or end up in a camp or prison, yet they took the risk, the planning, the hard work, organized and HELPED.
Sadly the tunnel flooded and had to be given up for good.
59 people came through, another 31 on Sunday, with water already in.
The Berlin wall was 13 months old and in this period of time a remarkable 1000 people escaped, despite the danger of death,... or prison.
21 gave half a year of their lives to help - the speaker assumed there would be more tunnels in the future, but people found other ways.
Via boats, planes, balloons. You can try to take away freedom. Some give up, some find ways, some die on their way.
And what do we have now? Kids who skip school on Fridays to "Fight for the future", wow, they sure change the whole world by littering the streets, and I do mean that - they have "coffees to go" and just drop it while walking and jumping on, when empty.
Dear Corinna stopped them and despite schools are open again you never hear of them, or is it just me?
OK. Let´s leave on a funny note.
This IS Germany.
Why are (some) people like this.
19 comments:
This is a very, very interesting history, you share with us here. Thank you very much. I know about the escapes (not this particular one) and I was in West Berlin, while the wall was still there. You can hardly imagine it anymore, it's just bizarre
There is a good deal or irony that Ronald Reagan famously said to Mikhail Gorbachev, "Tear down this wall" yet Donald Trump was so hell bent on building his own. Both had the same aim, to prevent the free movement of people. As you say, Iris, this should be part of the history curriculum.
Bertiebo, yes, it´s hard to belive how long the wall still stood after this...
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David, yes, it´s weird, "we" tear it down, he invests in building one, crazy. I look forward to see what my Nieces will learn at school.
...every night on the evening we would see reports of people trying to flee to the west. It left quite an impression on me.
What an effort.
Tom, yes. It´s sad.
If they work people are mad they "steal" our jobs, if they don´t people are mad cause they get everything for free.
What I dislike is that most don´t learn the language and have no respect towards women.
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William, luckily, huh!
Interesting story, I am so old to remember very well the tragedy of the Wall.
And it was sad to visit the place where the Checkpoint Charlie was.
Amazing story of perseverance. I was 6 or 7 years old when the Wall went up. I remember seeing stories about the Wall on the news. In high school, I took a trip to West Germany and a trip to West Berlin. The tour also included a trip to East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie. I think I remember seeing a made for tv movie about people going through a tunnel to escape to the West.
I was born the year the Wall was built, so for me it had always been there. We read about the heroic people fleeing in ingenious ways; sometimes with sucess, sometimes ending up dead or in prison. We got to know people having fled the East, and visiting the eastern part of Europe in 1979-80 was a tough experience for me.
I was a new mother when the Wall tumbled and a very happy one. We went to Berlin next summer and made memory coins from 1 Pf. peices and bought small pieces of the Wall. I still have all these and take them out to show my children every Mauertag or 3rd of October.
The movie is very touching.
Black Knight, I sadly have never seen the Checkpoint. Or where it was.
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CJ, what?! You were allowed to go to East Berlin?!
I only was allowed after the wall had fallen. Maybe I could have, but.. "we" didn´t care, how dumb in the aftermath!
Ingo had relatives there and visited, too.
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Charlotte, wow, your baby is an adult now, time sure runs!!!!
1 Pfennig, oh! You do know these bring you luck, huh? You have a piece of the wall?!!!
I don´t, I "only" have my T.
It´s good to show your kids these pieces!
That is such an amazing story. A country should have never been split like that. What were they thinking? More likely negotiating for every inch they could get-the Russians that is. Glad there is no more soviet union. Putin is a bit scary though. Thanks so much for sharing this Iris. I never knew about it. hugs-Erika
An incredible story about people who wanted freedom and were ready to die for it. It was a great book and video. People growing up today maybe don't know about it.
What a story!
Erika, yes. What were they thinking, you cannot cage people like that (or can you).
Putin, ow. A mighty clown in my eyes...
Hugs to you, to a great Monday!
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Bill, that´s the point!!! I hope my Nieces learn about this!
Thank you for the input! Really!
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Never heard of this before. I remember the cold war in school and propagana that was feed to us in school. I'm sure it done on both sides. And still goes on today. I like to read a school book from the eastern Europe block. Before 1980's
Coffee is on and stay safe
I've always been impressed with the wall. I have read many stories, including the one about the students tunneling under East Germany. I remember the day the wall came down, a stupid friend asked what the big deal was about a wall. If you've always been free, it's hard to explain.
Dora, the cold war must´ve been horrible. You never knew whom to trust.
Teachers in kindy asked how the clocks on TV look like to find out if the parents watch West-TV etc...
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Elizabeth, ow.
Well. But... Germany is a small country, not really a wonder your friend had no idea about it all (on the other hand... Germany sure should be known as a mega-destroyer. Twice!).
I knew nothing about this. Thanks for the head's up. It looks fascinating.
Yes, I thought it´s time to share some good Germans - if they were Italians, also ;-)
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