"By autumn 1989 a whole wave of refugees from the GDR were on the move towards the West, their route taking them via Prague and Budapest. And owing to the large number of defections, the GDR authorities had stopped issuing travel permits for Czechoslovakia and Hungary. My son (just turned 18 and finished with his studies) had also planned to flee. He decided to fly to Bucharest because the authorities were unaware that people were defecting from Romania. From there he wanted to get the train back to Budapest in order to travel up to Berlin via Austria and Bavaria. Escape planned – and executed. He finally reached his destination at the beginning of November – just days before the Wall fell."
Jürgen Lottenburger (West Berlin)
(5 rankings) 
