Outpost Berlin: Cold War 1961–1964

© Copyright 2010, 2011 Harold Schwartz.

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Printed in the United States of America.

isbn: 978-1-4269-4651-6 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4269-4652-3 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4269-7541-7 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010916113

Trafford rev. 04/04/2011

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Contents

P R O L O G U E

1

Escape!

2

Welcome to Berlin

3

Escape! (Continued)

4

Marienfelde

5

What did he say??

6

Let’s Play Chicken!

7

Happy New Year, Comrade Colonel!

8

Steinstücken

9

What price Freedom? Peter Fechter –

10

Spandau Prison

11

Spies on the Bridge

12

May Day 1963

13

An Ami Strikes Back

14

Dangerous Games Children Play

15

Naïve Americans

16

APPENDIX A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

This book is Dedicated to

My wife Christine of 50 years, whose help and inspiration have made me a finer man and husband than I would have been otherwise. Without her help and support this book would never have come to be --

My brave sons Karl, Kevin and Eric who listened to my war stories and sporting accomplishments then went out and did far better –

My courageous daughter Aimee who by sheer will power (and a kidney transplant from her brother Eric) overcame the terrible disease of diabetes and now lives a normal healthy life –

Magdalena Juppe, the most courageous and inventive Fluchthelferin (escape helper) whom I have ever met and had the pleasure to work with.

Lastly to the 135 known, 22 unknown, and three children (drowned) who died trying to escape from East German tyranny (See The Wall – The peoples Story by Christopher Hilton (Sutton Publishing, 2001) --

Acknowledgments

It is common practice for an author to acknowledge the many people who have helped him create the book that he / or she has just written. Among these are always a publisher, editors, an agent, copy writers, layout specialists, etc.

I have none of the above, but I do have a group of highly talented friends and associates who have helped me immensely in doing the research and re-immersing me correctly and accurately in the ambiance and spirit of West Berlin in the early 1960’s. Here they are in alphabetical order.

In the U.S.A.

Finucane, Edmund (‘Pat’). – Pat is my brother-in-law. An early communications specialist in the Air Force, Pat went on to become one of the best computer network specialists in the highly secret world of the Intelligence Community. Pat has been my technical and computer guru for many years.

Pat and his wife Andrea, are the ultimate pilots and now live in a retirement airport community in Greer, SC, where Pat is building his next airplane.

O’Connell, Albert. – Al and I met in 1965, when we were both assigned to the 55th Military Intelligence Detachment in Nha Trang, South Vietnam. He had previously served several long tours in MI in West Germany. Al became a student of things German. Al served several additional tours with MI in ‘NAM’.

After his retirement, Al attended the National University of Ireland (Galway).

Al has helped me immeasurably in translating and doing research. He now lives in Boynton, FL with his wife, Maureen.

Rynerson, Robert. – Robert was assigned in 1969, to a position, which had been created for me as a ‘special projects officer’ in G-2, Berlin Brigade. For his exemplary service he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.

A graduate of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, upon his discharge, Robert was recruited by the Oregon Department of Transportation as a planner. He subsequently moved to Denver CO, where he is on the staff of the Regional Transportation District.

Robert is the ultimate researcher on trains and railroads. He is the web-master in English of two websites:

Berlin 1969   http//home.att.net/~rw.rynerson/index2htm

Rails to Berlin   http//rails_to_berlin.home.att.net

Topping, Richard. – I first met Dick when we both attended the Intensive 12-month Russian language program at the Army Language School in Monterey CA. We were then both stationed in Berlin; he with the 78th ASA.

Already holding a BA in history from Lehigh University, after his discharge he attended Columbia University, earning his MA in public Law and Government in June 1964 and a certificate from the university’s Russian institute in 1965. He then joined the CIA where he spent the next 30 years, ultimately serving as a senior analyst for both Soviet domestic politics and Soviet/Russian foreign affairs. He also served as an intelligence advisor to the U.S. Delegation at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (S.A.L.T.) with the USSR at Helsinki in 1970.

Dick retired from the CIA in 1995 and now lives in Belfast Maine with his wife Mary Ann.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Dick gave several presentations on the U. S. intelligence effort at the Belfast Senior College, local rotary clubs, and other venues. In fall 2008, he taught a course on National Security: U.S. Intelligence for the 21st Century at the local senior college. He also has been following events in post-Communist Russia, and will continue to offer courses on Russian history and U.S foreign police and intelligence.

Woronchuk, Ivan. – Ivan was born In Petrovsk, Ukraine in 1937. His father was killed during the Nazi invasion. His mother was deported to a forced labor camp in Swiekau, Germany. For the next three years Ivan grew up taking care of his younger sister while his mother worked. When the war was coming to a close, the camp inmates learned that this area would fall under Soviet occupation, knowing that they would be repatriated to the Soviet Union, at best, many fled westward. Ivan’s mother and her family fled to Hanau where they turned themselves in to a displaced persons’ camp. They remained there until 1950. Ivan’s mother remarried and the family was able to immigrate to Indiana.

Upon graduation from high school in 1955, Ivan enlisted in the Army for infantry. While in AIT, he was approached by Special Forces because of his linguistic skills. He accepted, and attended jump School at Ft. Benning, GA, then reported to the 77th Special Forces at Ft. Bragg, NC. He went on to the 10th SF at Bad Tolz, then to Det ‘A’ in Berlin. With completion of six years in the military he became an American citizen.

In 1963 he attended Infantry OCS at Ft. Benning, graduated and returned to SF at Bragg.

He then was off to Viet Nam for 2 1/2 tours during which he earned the Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Stars for Valor, Defense Service Medal, Cross of Gallantry w Palm (Vietnamese), Army Commendation Medal, and three Purple Hearts. He would have gotten more medals but the actions occurred in top secret ops in Laos which the government didn’t want anyone to know about.

With Viet Nam behind him, Ivan attended Advanced Infantry officer School at Benning in 1969, followed by a year as a Company Commander in the 101st Airborne.

Time out for some education, Ivan attended the U. of Tampa, earning a BA in history. He was promoted to major while at the university.

Back to Bad Kreutz, Germany for a stint as S-3, and assistant G-2. Then some more education while serving as Assistant PMS at Loyola University, during which he was promoted to lieutenant Colonel.

Ivan completed his military career, bouncing between the JFK Special Warfare School, and action in Grenada, Panama, and other classified actions against the Contras. Ivan retired in December 1988 with 33 years of active duty.

I first met Ivan in Berlin in 1961, then again in 5th Special Forces in Nha Trang, Viet Nam in 1965. Ivan commissioned our youngest son, Eric, and would have commissioned our twins Kevin and Karl but was sent off to Central America as mentioned above.

Ivan has worked since his retirement as a magistrate for the state Of North Carolina.

In Berlin, Germany

Degner, Helmut. – Helmut was born in Berlin in 1938 and grew up during World War II. He spent the latter part of the War with his mother in the countryside to avoid the Allied bombing. In 1946 his father was forced to go to Belgrade, Yugoslavia to help in the reconstruction of the Yugoslav film industry His family returned to Berlin in 1950. Helmut attended and graduated from a ‘Gymnasium’ (an elite high school for exceptional students). He was educated and trained to become an assistant judge in the West Berlin the Justice Administration in 1961.

He changed career paths in 1973, going to work for the Berlin House of Representatives, rising to the position of head of the Office of administration. He served as chief of staff of the President. He was responsible for organizing the departure festivities of the Allies. He retired in 1997. As evident from his above flair for planning, organizing, and coordinating activities and events, he now runs his own company doing the same sort of activities in the private sector.

I first met Helmut in 2001, when the Toppings, Chris and I visited reunified Berlin for the first time since the 1960’s. For one week he showed us the cultural, historic and scenic sights.

When Helmut learned of my military intelligence background and experiences and that I wanted to write about them, he asked me to come back the next year, which I did. For some two weeks in 2002, he put me up in an apartment and drove me all over old East Berlin interviewing escapees, escape helpers and others involved in the Cold War.

Komets, Arik. – Arik was born in Hapsal, Estonia in 1937. His parents and grandparents were from St. Petersburg, Russia and had to flee to Estonia as a result of the Bolshevik Revolution. When the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic States in 1940, his parents opted to be repatriated to Germany under the Molotov – Ribbentrop Agreement as ‘ethnic Germans’. The family arrived in March 1941, one of the last trains permitted before the outbreak of hostilities between Germany and the Soviet Union. In March 1952, the family immigrated to New Jersey.

Arik dropped out of high school (not because of grades but a desire to more quickly integrate into U.S culture) and joined the Army at the age of 17. He became an American citizen in 1958, and switched to the Air Force and was accepted to the Airman Education and Commissioning Program which permitted him to earn, a BA in International Relations at San Francisco State College. After completing Officer Training School in San Antonio, Texas and military intelligence Schools at Lowry AFB, CO and Ft. Holabird, MD, he was assigned as an intelligence officer in Wiesbaden, Germany and later West Berlin.

He then spent a year at HQ MACV in Saigon, South Vietnam. He them was assigned to the Air Force Academy after attending Georgetown University and earning an MS in Linguistics. He taught German at the academy from 1972 to 1976.

Then it was back to Berlin as Operations Officer at the Joint Allied Refugee Operations Center at Marienfelde. He retired from the military in 1980, but immediately assumed a civilian position at the US Screening Office at Marienfelde as supervisor until its closing in 1990. After that he worked as OIC in Army intelligence in Berlin until the unit was disbanded in October 1995.

Arik is multi lingual speaking German and Russian, in addition to English.

In 1993, Arik became a founding member of the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum Association, then Deputy Chairman of this association. He still continues to give talks and tours at the museum. Arik is also the author of four treatises in German on various aspects of Stasi relations and attempts to infiltrate Marienfelde, and is currently working on a 5th, dealing with Stasi infiltration of West German agencies.

I met Arik in March 2004 and Chris and I have visited him and his wife Dedi three times, and they have visited us in Pawleys Island, SC.

Merten, Manfred. -- Manfred was born In Oranienburg in 1937. After the war he attended trade school and became a master machinist in the GDR. He somehow became a spy for British Intelligence, was arrested and sentenced to 6 ½ years in Prison. He was arrested again for ‘anti-state activities’ and convicted and sentenced again. His freedom was bought by the West German Government for 45,000 DM. He was relocated to West Berlin where he again became a master machinist until his retirement.

With all his property and possessions confiscated by the GDR, he now lives in Zelendorf with his companion Ingrid Killian (another victim of Stasi oppression) on his German Social Security and a small monthly stipend as a victim of the MFS.

I have visited Manfred on several occasions and listened to his descriptions of life in the GDR in general, and life in a Stasi prison in particular. He is a true friend – a perfect example of someone whose life was ruined by an arbitrary totalitarian power.

Thurow, Rudi. – Rudi was born in Leipzig shortly before World War II. Surviving the war he grew up in devastated GDR. After graduating from trade school he was conscripted into the Volkspolzei for two years. With no political connection in the SED, he reenlisted and was promoted to Junior Sergeant. With the building of the Wall, his unit was moved to the area in the south-west corner of Berlin. In August 1962, while on patrol he decided to escape to the West thru Steinstücken. During the escape a friend was wounded. He was saved by the Steinstücken Detachment of the 287th MP Company and was airlifted out by helicopter. He was debriefed by the MI in West Germany. Upon his return to Berlin he decided to become a / tunnel builder escape helper, and assisted many escapees to get to the West. He was so blatant and successful that the Stasi put out a contract on him and he had to carry a weapon and constantly move from location to location.

He has written two books in German. The first is about life in a border guard unit, his thought processes in deciding to flee to the West and the escape itself. The second is about the numerous escapes that he was able to engineer.

Today, Rudi is retired but he still works as a guide and lecturer at the Haus am Check Point Charlie educating younger Germans on the horrors of Cold War Berlin.

--

As always, any mistakes omissions or inaccuracies are mine,

and mine alone!

A U T H O R ‘ S N O TE

This novel is a ‘novel of historical fiction’ (as Alan Furst likes to call his novels). It is fictional for the following reasons:

First, that in spite of all the research by my colleagues and I, and the use of the Internet, I cannot guarantee the exact dates and times of the various incidents, nor the names of all the characters. The names of the senior officers(Generals Watson and Hartel, Colonels Glover Johns, Robert Sabolyk, William Waple, Major O’Mara, Mr. Irving Firestone, and . Mr. Karl Nagy, CIA, [all deceased]) are real and the words and manner in which they are delivered is the way that would if they were here today. The United States owes these men and others like them, much for their intelligence, training, professionalism, dedication and patriotism. I was honored to have served under them.

Second, fiction permits me to combine various views of reality that occur at slightly different times and locations, and make the story hopefully more interesting My nom de plume, Karl Ebert, permits me to say things that a real Specialist 4 or 5 could not have said. Karl’s military and educational training are very similar to mine.

Finally, the purpose of this novel is not to extol Karl Ebert’s exploits, but to educate – to give the reader a feel for what it was like to serve in the Army in West Berlin from 1961 through 1964. That is the reason for the numerous ‘Backgrounds’, and Richard Topping’s excellent but brief history of Berlin from Bismarck up to 1961. The Bibliography, Spy Novels, and movies lead you, the reader, to a more detailed knowledge of the era – if you wish.

Military and Para-Military Organizations of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) & West Berlin

It might be helpful to the reader to define the military and para-military organizations that will be mentioned in this book. The GDR had more such units (and in larger sizes) than one would have imagined for a country of some 17 million inhabitants. Here they are, in no particular order.

Volkspolizei (‘Vopos’) – The People’s Police were the equivalent of the city police/state police in the US. They were found in every community of the GDR. Prior to 1962 they manned the checkpoints between East and West. They also had special ‘Commando’ units that patrolled along the more rural southern and western borders. Their uniforms were of a light gray – blue color

Grenzpolizei (‘Grepos’) –The Border Police. The ‘Deutsche Grenzpolizei’ was organized on 01 Dec 1946. It was subordinated to the Interior Ministry. In 1961 – 1973 the ‘Grenztruppen’ were subordinated to the ‘National Peoples’ Army’. After that they were directly subordinated to the Defense Ministry. They patrolled around the borders of West Berlin and along the ‘Inner German Border’ Their uniform were of brown – green color and oftentimes they were of a camouflage material and color appropriate to the season.

Transportpolizei (‘Trapos’) – The Transportation Police were responsible for checking and safeguarding all means of transportation/shipping within the GDR (rail, road, waterways, airports). Theoretically they were also responsible for the safety of the S-Bahn, which crossed West Berlin, and which was GDR owned). Their uniforms were dark blue and they carried side-arms.

Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) – The People’s Army, an organization very similar to the US Army, with similar branches (Infantry, Artillery, Armor, etc.) and appropriate uniform color and ranks.

Ministerium fuer Staatssicherheistsdienst (‘MfS’) – The Ministry for State Security, derogatorily known as the Stasi, was the GDR’s counterpart of the KGB. Erich Mielke the commanding General of the Stasi for most of its history, actually wrote a song, We are little Czeckists, which had to be sung at important occasions (referring to the First Soviet security organ, the Czechka). The Stasi was known as the Sword and Shield of the Party. The Stasi was the sinister side of deutsche Gründlichkeit (German thoroughness). When the GDR collapsed in 1989 the Stasi had almost 100,000 officers and non commissioned personnel, including 11,000 members of its own special guards regiment. Equally numerous were the inoffizielle Mitarbeiter (‘IM’). This made the Stasi having one spy or snoop for every 6.5 citizens – far lower than the Nazi Gestapo or the Soviets KGB!

Kampf Truppen – The ‘Defenders’. These men were Ex-military who now worked in factories. They were normally in their late 30s thru early 50s, and were armed with obsolete weapons. The G.D.R used them to surround the Brandenburg Gate on August 13th, as they figured that the Allies would see them as no military threat.

NOTE: No combat troops, GDR or Soviet were located in East Berlin. There were some ceremonial guards and paper-pushers at Karlshorst. Headquarters, Soviet Forces West was located near Wuensdorf, South of Berlin.

The Allies in West Berlin

The Allies had some 10,000 troops in West Berlin. The U.S. had 5,000, the British 3,000 (near the Olympic Stadium and in Spandau), and the French 2,000 (in Quartier Napoleon, Reinickendorf).

Of the American forces there were three battle groups located at McNair Barracks, an armored unit at Turner Barracks, and a Special Troops battalion at Andrews Barracks, composed of Hq & Hq Company, Service Company, 592nd Signal Company, and the 287th MPs. Also housed at Andrews were the 78th A.S.A Special Operations Unit and a small Special Forces Unit, called Det. ‘A’. Also the Military Hospital, the 513th MI, and the 67th CI. At Tempelhof Air Base was the 7350th Air Base Group, the Air Traffic Control and Berlin Flight Safety Center, personnel of the Air Force Security Service, and an Army Aviation Detachment.

The Bereitsschaftpolizei (‘Bepo’) was a special para military police unit. These units were established in 1950 in all West German states, and subsequently also in West Berlin. Here it was under the jurisdiction of the Western Allies. It was a volunteer organization (no draft/conscription, or Bundeswehr troops were permitted in West Berlin). In West Berlin it numbered approximately 1,000 officers and men. These policemen were housed in barracks and underwent a rigorous physical and military training like our Basic and Advanced Training. The units were armed with light infantry weapons to include machine guns and mortars. It was used mainly for riot control and performed admirably the night and day after Peter Fechter was shot and killed. The Allies figured it would be less incendiary if Germans fought against Germans during riots.

Significant Players

It might be helpful to the reader to know something about the significant players in this novel. It will also permit the author to speed up the story.

The players will be introduced in the three chronological episodes of my career in West Berlin. Each section will be by rank / importance. All are deceased unless otherwise indicated.

–

The Provost Marshal, 287th MPs, 11th CID. (Andrews Barracks) Jan 1961 – Jun 1962.

Clay, Lucius D. General and Special envoy under Kennedy. By far the most important American to serve in Berlin; first as Military Governor of West Germany, Second as hero of the Berlin Airlift, lastly as the instigator of the Berlin Tank Incident in October 1962. He was recalled by Kennedy shortly afterward and took a position of Chairman of the Board of one of the top Fortune 500 companies. Major Firestone and I choppered him over to Steinstücken, one of the small exclaves which we continuously fought over with the Soviets and East Germans.

Watson II, Albert. Major General and U.S. Commander Berlin (USCOB) (1960 – 1962). General Watson was the chief military and State Department official. While Berlin was nominally under the command of General Lyman L. Lemnitzer commander of USAREUR, Berlin was directly controlled by President Kennedy and his younger brother Bobby. Berlin was a lost cause militarily, and Lemnitzer was focused on holding the Fulda Gap.

In 1965 shortly before being sent to Viet Nam, I attended a presentation that General Watson was giving at Fort Belvoir, VA, primarily to Corps of Engineer Officers. As he was leaving the auditorium he spied me, came over shook my hand and we engaged in small talk for about 20 – 30 seconds. The officers around us looked on in amazement that a Major General would stop and talk to a lowly Sp5. He had good eye-sight and a good memory. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Lieutenant General and took command of the 2nd U.S. Army at Fort Meade, MD.

Lightner, Allen. Lightner was the Chief State Department official in West Berlin. He was a member of Berlin’s ‘mafia’ a group which strongly opposed President Kennedy’s do nothing policy over the Berlin Wall. His outspoken criticism got him in trouble and he retired Lightner was the central figure in the October 1961 Tank Incident.

Hartel, Frederick. Brigadier General of Berlin Brigade (1961 – 1962). General Hartel had been wounded in Korea, and walked with a pronounced limp. He and his wife had other physical problems, and he retired shortly after leaving Berlin.

Sabolyk, Robert. Lieutenant Colonel and Provost Marshal of Berlin Brigade (1960 – 1963) Colonel Sabolyk was a chief figure in real life during this time and in many episodes in this book. Colonel Sabolyk was my first and best mentor, helping far far, beyond what could be expected between a senior officer and a young enlisted man. I still have a letter of Commendation from him and another letter of recommendation for O.C.S. He departed Berlin in summer 1963 and retired shortly thereafter.

Paonessa, Alfredo. Major and Autobahn Detachment Commander. Paonessa was a big man, to put it mildly He stood at least 6’2’ and weighed in at somewhere near 280 pounds. He had been a starting tackle at George Washington University when he was drafted into the Army and had been made an MP. Towards the end of his enlistment, the Army offered to send him back to GW to get his degree, all expenses paid, plus an allowance of $500.00 a month. Upon graduation, he would be commissioned a 1st Lieutenant, in return for a six year military obligation. To top it off he was promoted to Staff Sergeant and given a slot in the District of Columbia National Guard where he could attend drills and go to summer camp while in college, thus giving him two incomes.

The D.C. National Guard was an augmented battalion given the importance of protecting the nation’s capital, and the officers took the young sergeant under their wings and gave him time off when he needed it and special full pay projects in the summer and during the holidays. For the next 3 + years he spent all his time going to classes, studying or working in the D.C. Armory. The only thing the sergeant had to do was give up football.

Paonessa, a staunch Catholic with eight children, was another of my mentors, and was proxy godfather to our son, Eric.

Firestone, Irving. GS-13, and Chief Liaison Officer of Berlin Brigade. Firestone (not his real name, an Anglicization probably making it easier to pronounce). Irving was born somewhere in Eastern Prussia now Poland). He spoke German, Polish, and Russian fluently. His parents and he left Germany in the 1930’s. They settled in New York where he attended high school then City College of New York. With the coming of WW II he was given a direct commission, and later served as Intelligence Officer under General Patton. He was involved in the search for ex-Nazis. As a captain, he resigned his commission, and continued in the above capacity as a Department of the Army civilian. He eventually took the job mentioned above. He remained in the reserves and was a Major when I first met him.

Irving was an equally important mentor to me. He obtained for me (along with the concurrence of Colonel Sabolyk) the GS-11 ‘ Acting Liaison Officer’ position. I still have my ID card which he obtained for me. He wanted me to become the real Assistant Liaison officer but bureaucratic rules precluded that. See picture of Irving, Colonel Sabolyk, Major Paonessa and Smirnoff. See Chapter 5, What did he say? Linguistic boo-boos and High Drama on the Autobahn, in this book. I could not have done nearly as bad as Mr. Trent. The next Assistant Liaison officer was Mr. Alexander Alexandrovich Smirnoff. Smirnoff was a Tsarist officer, who fled Russia, settled in San Francisco, and became a professor at the Army Language School. Smirnoff spoke impeccable Russian, but he was too old, too quiet spoken, and got rattled during all the screaming and yelling which accompanied many of the confrontations. He resigned a year after this picture. ‘See page 198 Upper left photo.

Puhl, Hans Werner. Sp4. And later Sgt. A native born Berliner, who was orphaned by the war, raised in a ‘displaced person’s camp’ after the war and joined the US army to obtain American citizenship. I met him when we both served at Checkpoint Charlie. We were both witnesses to Peter Fechter’s tragic death.

In contrast to the Peter Fechter incident, on September 13th, 1964, Puhl defied standard operating procedures during an escape attempt, climbed the Wall, crossed the short no-man’s-land while being shot at by the Grepo’s, returned fire with his 45 pistol, picked up a seriously wounded Flüchtling named Michael Meyer, who had been shot six times while trying to escape, and carried him back to the Wall and passed him over to waiting West Berlin Police. Surprisingly Meyer lived. MP’s in the 287th MP Company had been court martialed for a lot less than what Puhl had done, but Mayor Willy Brandt’s publicizing of the heroics of the German-American had made him a hero. Instead of a court martial, the American authorities had had to back down and promote him instead. As a result Puhl became a folk hero to all the enlisted men of the 287th!)

G-2 Berlin Brigade. (Brigade Headquarters Clayallee) Jun 1962. –Jan 1964.

Waple, Laurence. Lieutenant Colonel and G-2 Berlin Brigade (1961 – 1964). Colonel Waple led the Army’s intelligence collection efforts (in co-operation with 513th MI, and the CIA during those tumultuous years. Colonel Waple in conjunction with Colonel Sabolyk, arranged my Transfer to G-2 and immediate promotion to Sp5. I was made a special projects officer and given a new persona of 1st Lieutenant (Infantry) so I could co-ordinate with the British and French. I wore enlisted, civilian and officer uniforms, as he deemed appropriate. I would teach him Russian early in the morning (as time permitted) and translated articles from Krasnaya Zbezda, and Der Roter Stern (Soviet & GDR military periodicals). He and Major O’Mara let me brief generals Watson, Hartel and other visiting dignitaries from time to time. He retired shortly after leaving Berlin.

O’Mara, William. Captain then Major, Chief G-2 Order of Battle Section. Major O’Mara had the hardest and busiest job in G-2 collecting and disseminating intelligence information on Soviet and GDR military activities in and around East Berlin. Major O’Mara had been an enlisted man in Korea and received a battle field commission. As an ex-EM He made my life and those of other young GI’s easier. I ran the G-2 overt collection patrols for him into East Berlin when he deemed it appropriate and conducted briefings (as mentioned above).

Allied Staff. (British Headquarters Olympic Stadium) Jan 1964 Dec 1964.

Oppenheim, Jack . Sp4, Chief Clerk & Interpreter in French controlled G-4 at Allied Staff. Jack was born a Jew in Brooklyn New York. His father a doctor and mother a concert Violinist had emigrated to the US from Berlin, right before Hitler made it illegal. His Grandfather had also become a successful doctor during the 1920’s and 30’s. During the First World War he had served as an infantry corpsman in the Kaiser’s army. He was very brave, and somewhat stupid (Jack’s father said), as he always volunteered for hazardous missions. He received Das Eiserne Kreuz, the Iron Cross, for his bravery. He was proud to be a German and fight for his country, and he cherished his medal. When the Nazis came to power in the 1930’s he couldn’t understand what was happening. He and my grandmother lived in a small town south-east of Berlin, where he had become the town doctor. He was respected and very much in demand by the local citizens.. Jack’s grandfather wanted his father to join his practice, but the father liked living in downtown Berlin, and his wife played violin in the Berlin Philharmonic. They were city people and enjoyed the culture that the city had to offer. The last thing they wanted to do was to live in a Dorf. Jack’s father was also very worried about the Nazis and made plans to immigrate to America. He begged his father and mother to come too, but the grandfather was stubborn. Germany was his home. He was not going to run away. Jack’s grandfather and father fought over his parents leaving. When the parents left they were barely on speaking terms.

In November 1938, Jack’s grandmother wrote and said that after Kristallnacht, his grandfather was so furious he put on his old army uniform and went down to the town square where the Nazis were holding a rally. He wanted to show his town people that he was as much a German as they were, and that the Nazis were just uncultured hooligans, and not even worthy of the proud cultural history of Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, and Schiller. They were too stupid to understand the music of Wagner and the philosophy of Nietzsche, who they claimed to revere! The Nazi organizers were not from the town and when they saw him and he began to yell at them, they became furious and attacked him. His own friends and patients stood back and watched. He was knocked down and hit his head on the cobblestones. They kicked him until he died. Something about his wearing the uniform incensed them. The locals did not even bother to pick up the body of their own town doctor, until later. He was buried in Berlin-Weißensee, Jewish cemetery as there was no Jewish cemetery in his little town. It broke his grandmother’s heart and she moved to Berlin with some of her relatives. She was never the same after that. She would not wear the Jewish Star of David and stayed in the house. After the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, and the announcement of the final solution of the Jewish Question she could not bear to be sent to the camps and committed suicide. She was buried next to her husband. Even during the blackest days of Jewry Hitler still let Jews be buried according to their rites. Once a Jew was dead, Hitler didn’t seem to care about them anymore. There were slightly more than 160,500 Jews in Berlin before the war, after 1945 only 6,500 remained, many by hiding in cellars which they called "U-Boote". The number has climbed somewhat since then. Most of those who died were killed in the death camps and were buried in mass graves; otherwise this cemetery would be overflowing."

January 1961-- December 1964

GS-11 Hal, at 24 years of age

Ebert, Karl. Sp4 then Sp5 Karl is loosely modeled after me-- his experiences mine.

My father was born in South Dakota, attended South Dakota State College of Agricultural, majoring in Agrarian Economics. He moved to Washington, DC, joined the Department of Agriculture rising to Executive Assistant of Secretary W. Wilkie (who became the controversial Vice President under Roosevelt and ran for President in 1948 as a Socialist. He married my mother and I was the first born child. With the onset of WW II, He was given a commission as a Naval Logistics Lieutenant Commander. My mother and I remained in the DC area. In 1946 he resigned his commission and accepted a Commander equivalent Navy Civilian position, responsible for the restocking of the entire Central Pacific with cattle, chickens, etc. My mother and I joined him on Guam shortly afterward for the next 4 ½ years I had the wildest experiences that a young boy could have. Every summer the son of the Chief Air Weather Central and I would be dumped on young naval officers as their ships supplied the far flung weather stations in Micronesia or actually sought out typhoons. I learned the good and the bad of the navy including the facts of life, long before I could do anything with them.

In 1950, Guam was made an American Territory, and Micronesia was given to the Department of Interior. My father transferred to the Marshal Plan. He was cited by President Truman in his speech on the State of the Union in 1951. My mother and I joined him in Saigon Vietnam (then part of French Indochina where he was Deputy Director of the U.S. Aid Program. I was sent to Lycée Yersin in Dalat Vietnam for 3 ½ years where I learned French In my free time I went big game hunting with my father and the professional hunters of Prince Nordom Sihanouk, of Cambodia, King Bao Dai, of Vietnam. Collectively we killed three elephants and five tigers (most likely by the professional hunters). I did get to shoot alone (with the hunter’s back up) and killed three sanglier (a French boar native to Central Vietnam). My father went on to become Director of the U.S. Aid programs in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He was cited by President Kennedy at his retirement. He died shortly after.

In 1954 I returned to the U.S. To finish my studies in an American high school, and take my SAT’s. I attended Villanova Prep School in Ojai, California, affiliated with the Augustinian priests and brothers of the Catholic Church. I scored well on the SAT’s and was accepted to Georgetown School of Foreign Service. I spent 3 1/2 years at Georgetown. My academic work was less than illustrious – I didn’t flunk but the Jesuits felt I needed to sit out a while and refocus Unfortunately as soon as I lost my student deferment, I got a letter from the draft board. I hurried down to the recruiting station and volunteered for Military intelligence.

I did my basic Training at Ft. Jackson, SC, advanced Artillery Training at Ft. Chafee, AR, where I was selected as Trainee of the Month, then off to Ft. Holabird for MI School. Why I detoured to Ft. Chafee, I have no idea? Upon graduation I was sent to the 528th MI at ft. Bragg, NC, took the foreign language aptitude exam, scored highly and was Sent to the Army Language School for Intensive Russian at the Presidio of Monterey, CA.

Upon graduation I was sent to Berlin to serve with the 513th MI. The 513th had somehow been blown by the Stasi and I was rerouted to the Provost Marshal, G-2 Berlin Brigade, and G-2, Allied Staff, where all of the stories in this novel happened. Upon my departure From Berlin after a short Stay at Ft. Belvoir VA, the army sent me to the 55th MI as a combat Interrogator, where I was attached to the 5th Special forces out of Nha Trang. On January 1st, 1966 I was at Ban Me Thouet where we were overrun after four day siege. Three were killed, eight wounded (including me) I returned to the US back to the same 528th MI that had been moved to Ft. Meade, MD. I was honorably discharged on 6 January, 1961.

I enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park, on the G.I Bill, for the Spring Semester. I took a combination of graduate and undergraduate courses (I had attended evening courses through the U. of Maryland overseas program. In May 1966, I graduated Summa Cum Laude in Business / Accounting with minors in History and International Relations. I was offered a teaching assistant in the Department of Management Information Systems. Several semesters later when the Department Chairman fell seriously ill, he offered me an Assistant Instructorship position in the department. The following year the students selected me as ‘The Outstanding Young Faculty Member’ in the School of Business Administration. I eventually received my Masters in Business and doctoral work in the same field. Unfortunately I ran out of G.I. Bill time. My department chairman recommended me for a position at Mansfield State University. I interviewed was accepted. For the next 22 years my family and I Lived in Wellsboro, PA (a beautiful small town) while I worked my way up the academic and administrative ladder; to Dean of Finance planning, on the administrative side, and Chairman of Business ,Accounting and Computer Systems

I am married to Christine (nee Simonick), a nursing graduate of The Catholic University of America, a BA in French Literature, and a Masters in Science. Chris and I have three sons, twins Kevin and Karl, and Eric, and a daughter Aimee All sons were born in the 287th field Hospital in West Berlin, and went on to graduate from Mansfield University, and earn honors as the Outstanding Army ROTC graduates. Karl and Kevin chose Artillery, attended Airborne School at Ft. Benning, GA, then went through Ranger School. Over the next twenty years they have served in the 82nd Airborne, in Korea, and Iraq and Afghanistan, winning far more awards and medals than I could have ever thought possible. Eric chose Quartermaster and attended Officer Basic Course at Fort Lee, VA, where he graduated at the top of his class. Aimee attended Schiller University in Heidelberg, Germany and graduated with a degree in International Business and German.

I retired and moved to Pawleys Island, SC. Our house is ½ mile from the beach. Chris then taught nursing at the local community college, and I did Computer consulting for the local hotels and golf courses. When our Daughter, Aimee became seriously ill from diabetes, we both gave up our jobs, to care for her. She received a double Transplant at the University of Maryland.

Chris and I work out to stay healthy; she walking on the nearby beach, or water aerobics at a club, I running on the same beach, or working out at the same club. We both do charitable work ; Chris at Friends of the Waccamaw Library and Birthright a pro-life organization, I as a treasurer of the local POA, and Treasurer of the Knight of Columbia local Council.

Chris and I both love to travel and she has a book, 1,001 Places to See before you die, and is on a quest to do as many as possible.

P R O L O G U E

August 13, 1961!

Upon awakening that morning, Berlin residents soon discovered that shortly after midnight the East German authorities, led by Walter Ulbricht, had begun to put up barricades separating their part of the city from the sectors occupied by the Western Allies -- France, Great Britain, and the United States. Ulbricht, nicknamed Der Spitzbarb ("The Goatee") due to his anemic elongated face and pointed beard, had been lobbying Moscow since March for a means to stem the hemorrhaging of the East German population (for background on the Berlin Crisis in August 1961, see Appendix D.).

Until then, at no time in modern history had any government attempted to wall its citizens off from their ethnic brothers and sisters. Families were separated, in some cases by mere street widths. From its humble beginnings as strands of concertina wire alongside those city streets, to the massive concrete barricades, watchtowers, and cleared fields of fire that took form later, Die Mauer ("The Wall") captured the attention and imagination of the entire Western world. Although it was a stabilizing influence, and in some ways provided a solution for a highly volatile situation, Die Mauer and the people on both sides were soon to cause unanticipated problems for all governments concerned.

As construction of the Wall moved forward, Greater Berlin found itself divided into two increasingly hostile armed camps. The Soviets and East Germans had some eighteen armored and mechanized divisions in the East, totaling over 600,000 troops. The three Allied garrisons combined numbered less than 10,000 troops. Moreover, like the paramilitary West Berlin Bereitschaftspolizei, they did not pose a military threat, being predominantly trained in maintaining public order and crowd control.

Although both Soviet and Western officials were willing to share power with their previously vanquished German foe on some points, there was no question where the power lay on questions concerning the use of military force. On the Soviet/East German side, all matters of that sort were handled at the Kommandatura ("Military Headquarters") in Karlshorst, or the Soviet Embassy on Unter den Linden. On the Western side, such matters were handled at the Council of Commandants or the military-diplomatic headquarters of each individual Ally -- the French Quartier Napoléon, the British Olympic Stadium, and the US Clay Allee compounds. Under no circumstances would any of the occupying powers put their broader geostrategic interests at risk by allowing local German officials to call the shots during a crisis in Berlin.

From the outset, the Berlin Wall and activities on both sides of that hideous barrier would test this precarious arrangement. Today’s media -- with its ability to capture and project the most innocuous act almost immediately, and in any way it wishes, to the entire world -- has an enormous influence on the policies of many governments. The same was true during the 1960’s when we first saw the pictures of bricked up windows along Bernauer Strasse, with people sometimes jumping to their death there or along the other Sector streets, and the dying agony of Peter Fechter and other Flüchtlinge ("Border Escapees") caught in the barbed wire.

Into this volatile mix came a group of people known as the Flüchthelfer, (Border Escape Helpers) dedicated to facilitating escape from the East by any means -- on foot via sewers and tunnels, or through the barbed wire barriers in no-mans land; by raft, boat, or swimming across bodies of water separating East from West; by vehicle through one of the surface crossing points; or through the air by high-wire, glider, balloon, or helicopter. This group was divided roughly into two camps -- one made up of people who were working for profit; the other consisting of more idealistic and altruistic individuals, volunteers "für Freiheit" (for freedom).

The non-profit camp was mainly made up of young university students in the East and West, people attempting to help their friends in the East, or friends of friends to escape to the West. Much to their dismay at times, governments of many different persuasions have learned not to underestimate the power of their youths’ altruism, idealism, ingenuity, and persistence. The Western Allies had to walk a proverbial tightrope between sympathizing with the sometime heroic exploits of these students and worrying that such exploits, or any illegal actions involving members of their own garrisons might put at risk their basic occupation rights in Berlin -- especially their access to West Berlin from West Germany, and their right to free movement anywhere within Greater Berlin.

Military or diplomatic personnel of the Western Allies enjoyed access to the Soviet Sector of Berlin via civilian, military or diplomatic vehicles. Whether in military uniform or civilian clothing, the occupant(s) of any vehicle bearing a license plate of one of the Allied powers could travel throughout the city with immunity. France and Great Britain were rather more conservative when it came to exerting their rights in that area. Their military personnel had to use military vehicles when visiting the Soviet Sector, and their diplomatic personnel had to travel in clearly marked diplomatic vehicles on such occasions.

The United States, on the other hand, pushed the envelope. Its public position was that a member of the American garrison could go anywhere he wished, and by any means that he desired. If stopped by the Volkspolizei (VOPOs) (People’s Police), Grenzpolizei (GREPOs) (Border Police), or any other East German personnel, he only need state that he was an American and demand to see a Soviet military officer. Privately, however, the American authorities imposed several restrictions on where their personnel could go, when they could do so, and how they would dress on those occasions.

This free to travel anywhere policy would change dramatically with the erection of Die Mauer as a barrier separating East and West Berlin in August 1961. From that moment, US personnel could enter the Soviet Sector only via Friedrichstrasse, more popularly known as Checkpoint Charlie. In November 1961, when the East Germans stopped an American civilian vehicle containing US military personnel in civilian clothing, the US automobile -- accompanied by three jeeps bearing armed Military Police, backed up by eight tanks of the Berlin Brigade -- forced its way through the East German Checkpoint. The next day saw an encore performance. On the third day, the Soviets responded by bringing 33 T-54 tanks up to their side of the border, forcing the US probe vehicle and the accompanying jeeps with armed MP’s to withdraw to the West.

For four days, the world focused on this confrontation between the two superpowers, tank barrel to tank barrel. The negotiations to this, the second closest threat to nuclear holocaust, started initially, behind the scenes at Spandau Prison, and later moved to Washington and Moscow. Finally both sides backed down. The US agreed to informally restrict their military personnel to visiting the Soviet Sector only when in uniform.

Access would remain a sore point between the Western Allies and the Soviets-East Germans, and minor skirmishes and harassment would continue to occur at times, either intentionally or by mistake. To the East German authorities, it was an insult to allow an individual to claim that he was a member of the American armed forces simply because he was in an automobile bearing the USAREUR (US Army, Europe) B license plate or wearing a US military uniform, and for him to refuse to talk to anyone other than a Soviet Officer. To the methodical and paranoid mindset of the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS or Stasi) (Ministry of State Security), this was an open invitation for all sorts of abuse and many potential problems. On this point, the Flüchthelfer totally agreed! There were numerous cases where East Germans donned US military uniforms and/or reproduced USAREUR B license plates to escape.

Far more dangerous, however, at least from the perspective of the Allied Powers, was the recruitment of an American GI to aid and abet escapees by using the GI’s special status. Most of these early cases involved young enlisted personnel in the Special Troops Battalion of Berlin Brigade (mostly in the Military Police), who were married or engaged to Berliners. Initially, these Flüchtlinge were girlfriends who had been trapped in the East when the Wall’s construction began. Later, they were friends and family members of those girlfriends or wives. The troops assigned to the combat Battle Groups usually did not have the means, exposure, expertise, mindset or freedom of movement required to assist in such escapes from the East.

In nearly every instance, the escapes were altruistic one-time incidents, involving either girlfriends or members of their immediate families. As was the case with all normal refugees, these escapees had to turn themselves in to the West Berlin-Allied authorities at the Marienfelde Refugee Center for processing and screening. As a result, US Military Intelligence and Counter Intelligence agents usually managed to locate the guilty GI quickly; he would be quietly arrested, and expelled from Berlin within a matter of hours.

An even greater concern for the US authorities was the possibility of an organized group of misguided American GI’s -- possessing the requisite intelligence, inside information, and means of transportation, and enjoying the misplaced trust of the authorities themselves – who might work in concert with a Flüchthelfer student group.

There is no recorded evidence of the existence of any group of American GI’s and Berlin students ever involved in a systematic series of escape attempts involving a total of more than a dozen individuals over a significant period of time. One would not expect the American authorities to publicize any information about such a group if it had existed, or to admit that such a thing was even possible, because such an admission would have endangered Allied rights of unimpeded access to all sectors of the city. A chapter of this book describes what a perhaps real or fictitious group of Berlin Brigade GI’s and students at the Freie Universität Berlin ("Free University Berlin), located in West Berlin, would have undergone in risking their lives für Freiheit"!

1   

Escape!

Background:

When the Wall went up on August 13th, 1961, it was initially barbed wire strung between pre-cast concrete pylons. It stood some two meters high. With time it took on the semblance of a real wall of cinder-blocks with barbed-wire on the top in the urban areas of Berlin. Most of the West Berlin border connected with the surrounding territory of the German Democratic Republic, was predominately rural. Here the Wall was simply cleared terrain with one or more barbed-wire fences. With time more and better fences were built, more land was cleared, guard towers and search lights added,