Crazy balloon escape from East Germany

After World War II, East Germany was separated from the West by a well-fortified border and the Berlin Wall. That wall was secured by border patrols, and the area was surrounded by landmines. The border patrol was authorized to use lethal force as needed.

This story is about Günter Wetzel and Peter Strelzyk. The two of them were collaborators and companions in the plastic factory. They lived in the town of Poessneck. They had the misfortune to live their lives under the totalitarian rule of communist East Germany. They did not have a sense of freedom and faced many obstacles. All their daily activities were overseen by their government.

Escape planning

They were completely restricted from any contact with the outside world. Stasi, the secret police followed everything and they were constantly under surveillance. . Even the neighbor could have been an intelligence agent so they had to stay away. Because their lives were too limited, there was a point where they could no longer bear it. They were ready to plan their escape.

Crazy genius

Implementing their plan to escape from the country, Wetzel and Strelzyk stumbled upon a brilliant but crazy idea. The two of them were desperately looking for an easy escape and an idea came to them. They found themselves in a banned magazine from the West that sent them a relative. He presented the International Balloon Festival in New Mexico and that's how the idea was born.

Procurement of fabrics

The problem for them was the quality fabric for making balloons. After a short thought, the two of them came up with the idea. The plan took a lot of energy from them, but since they had no choice, they still had to go through it. The two boys drove from Poessnecka to other cities to procure material for their escape balloon.

From September 15 to 16, 1979, the families embarked on their venture. Of course, not everything went "smoothly". Since there were eight of them and they could not all fit in one car, the Strezlyk's eldest son, Frank, who was only fifteen, set off on a Wetzel moped. Due to the heavier weight, the moped was constantly overheating and stopped, but they managed to reach the airfield. The drive to freedom took only 30 minutes, but it was extremely dangerous. Right at the beginning, problems arose. As the ropes holding the balloon were not cut at the same time, the balloon tilted to the side and the flame ignited the balloon. Luckily, Frank had a fire extinguisher on hand. After the fire, they had to avoid the searchlights of the border police and the army. They were soon discovered by one of the border guards, but when he activated the searchlights they were already too high and out of reach. When they ran out of propane, they were about 10 kilometers from the East German border. It had to withstand low temperatures as well as survive a rather rough landing. The escape happened in the early morning hours.

There was no way to control the balloon, and the family was left at the mercy of the wind. No one spoke - until they saw three bright spotlights in the distance. It was a border crossing.

The next moment that posed a serious danger: the burner went out. Attempts to re-ignite the flames were unsuccessful. They ran out of fuel, and the balloon quickly fell among the trees.

Did they arrive in the West? They didn't know for sure, so they headed south. They soon spotted a sign for a power plant called Überlandwerk, something they had never seen in East Germany. The agricultural machinery in the building, and the arrival of the West German police, confirmed that. They landed in Nail, West Germany.They arrived in the West. They were free.

The city of Naila gave the family an apartment and help to get started. Disney bought the rights to their story and released the 1982 film Night Crossing. Last year, a German director released an escape thriller called Balloon.om Balon.