Continuing the recent WOT theme, this article’s a bit longer. You might also want to grab a tissue and keep it handy.<\/p>\n
The story that follows is not a tall tale, parable, or a fable. It happened.<\/p>\n
. . .<\/b> <\/p>\n
Once, there were three brothers. For now, we\u2019ll call them Able, Baker, and Charlie. <\/p>\n
They were born in a Communist land. To be precise, they were born in the German Democratic Republic, AKA East Germany.<\/p>\n
Their parents were Party members, and ardent Communists. They were high-ranking officers in East German dictatorship\u2019s security services. So the brothers had a relatively privileged upbringing. <\/p>\n
And being in East Germany, they were living in the most prosperous of the Soviet-block nations. So by Communist standards their lives were good indeed.<\/p>\n
Yet the oldest of the three \u2013 Able \u2013 had always wanted to see the world. This was a problem. He knew he could never do so while living in East Germany.<\/p>\n
So he decided to go West.<\/p>\n
Able served in the East German military. He was assigned to a border regiment that served along the Elbe, north of Berlin.<\/p>\n
He finished his military service. And not long afterwards, he began planning to leave.<\/p>\n
In his 21st year, he acted. <\/p>\n
Able rented a car \u2013 of course, after being on a waiting list to do so for four months. He drove north.<\/p>\n
He and a friend arrived in the area where Able had served – and thus knew fairly well. They sneaked through the \u201cdeath zone\u201d near the river, then quietly inflated air mattresses. <\/p>\n
Then that night, Able and his friend paddled across the Elbe. <\/p>\n
On the other side, they found a West German police vehicle. Able approached the vehicle, and tapped on its window.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cold night for swimming,\u201d was the West German policeman\u2019s remark to Able on seeing him. <\/p>\n
\u201cNot when you\u2019re swimming from the East,\u201d was Abel\u2019s reply. <\/p>\n
. . .<\/b><\/p>\n
Predictably, the family remaining behind received intense scrutiny from East German authorities. The parents lost their positions in the security services. And the remaining two brothers were watched closely.<\/p>\n
Yet the youngest brother Charlie also wanted freedom. And after a time, he too decided he would risk all to obtain it.<\/p>\n
After nearly eight years, he was ready.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d taken up archery as a hobby. He\u2019d become reasonably profficient. <\/p>\n
He also found a way to contact his brother in West Berlin during those years of waiting. With his brother\u2019s promise of help, he formulated a plan to obtain his freedom.<\/p>\n
Charlie found a place in East Berlin where the Berlin Wall\u2019s \u201cdeath zone\u201d was fairly narrow. And as fate would have it, there were buildings of significant height on either side of the wall in that area.<\/p>\n
One night, Charlie \u2013 having contacted his brother Able – climbed to the attic of one of those buildings. He and a friend climbed to the attic; Charlie then climed out of an attic window.<\/p>\n
He stood on the roof, and used his bow to shoot a thin fishing line roughly 40m over the border \u2013 and over the house opposite the higher building on which he stood. <\/p>\n
His brother Abel was waiting. He found the arrow his brother had shot across the Wall and the line attached to it. He used the line to pull larger line across the border – and then used that larger line to pull a wire across the Berlin Wall and its adjacent Death Strip.<\/p>\n
Charlie and his friend had also each obtained a pulley. To this, they\u2019d attached handholds and a strap for their wrists.<\/p>\n
Charlie tied off his end of the wire to the chimney of the building on which he stood. Able tied his end to the bumper of his car \u2013 then drove a short distance to tension the wire.<\/p>\n
Charlie put the pulley on the wire. He and his friend then zip-lined to freedom. Some sources say Charlie had to climb hand-over-hand the last few meters into West Berlin.<\/p>\n
. . .<\/b> <\/p>\n
The last brother, Baker, still remained in East Germany. And he was now under strict surveillance.<\/p>\n
Six more years passed.<\/p>\n
During those years, Baker was offered a ticket west by East German security services. Believing this was a test, he refused the offer \u2013 and professed to be quite happy in the GDR. (Other sources say he refused because his then-girlfriend threatened to commit suicide if he left.)<\/p>\n
His brothers, meanwhile, were searching for a way to bring him West. And in due time, Playboy Magazine (again!) helped them find a way to do exactly that.<\/p>\n
One day Able saw an ad in Playboy for a miniature helicopter. He and Charlie traveled to Cologne to see it. To their chagrin they found that it was only a prototype, and not yet commercially available. <\/p>\n
However, while there they met two French pilots who told them about something called an \u201cultralight\u201d. They traveled to France and checked out one.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d found their tool. Able learned to fly an ultralight – and clandestinely (and illegally) taught his brother Charlie to do the same.<\/p>\n
They procured two ultralights. Each ultralight would accommodate two persons. They would go together when it was time to get their brother Baker. One of them would land and would bring back their brother. The other would be the backup way out in case of problems.<\/p>\n
They they managed to establish contact with their brother Baker. They coordinated a time and place.<\/p>\n
After one aborted attempt, on May 26, 1989, they went back to East Berlin to get their brother.<\/p>\n
At 4:15AM, Baker hid himself in bushes in East Berlin\u2019s Treptow Park. Some minutes later, at Britzen Garten in West Berlin, Able and Charlie started their ultralight\u2019s engines.<\/p>\n
The flight was short. Able landed and picked up his brother Baker. Charlie circled overhead, ready to land and attempt to take off with both of them if there was an issue.<\/p>\n
Able\u2019s takeoff was long due to the extra weight, and clearing the trees at the end of their takeoff field in Treptow Park was a close thing indeed. But the takeoff was successful.<\/p>\n
The returning trio landed on the lawn in front of the Reichstag. Waiting friends took them out for a beer.<\/p>\n
Baker later remarked that it was the best drink of his life.<\/p>\n
. . .<\/b><\/p>\n
As I said initially, although it seems unbelievable this story is true. The three brothers were named (in age order) Ingo, Egbert, and Holger Bethke. (Some sources indicate Egbert was the youngest.) <\/p>\n
Ingo escaped from the GDR in May 1975 by crossing the Elbe north of Berlin; Holger, in March 1983 via zip-line over the Berlin Wall in Berlin. As noted above, the two of them returned to rescue their brother Egbert from East Berlin on 26 May 1989. Ironically, less than six months later the Berlin Wall fell. <\/p>\n
The title of this article is a partial quote of remarks made by Egbert Bethke, referring to the first beer he drank during the celebration he and his brothers shared after his rescue from East Berlin. The full quote is as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the best drink of my life. I thought I\u2019d never see my brothers again, but they came out of the sky like angels and took me to paradise.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Brotherly love indeed.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
Sources<\/u>:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.readersdigest.ca\/culture\/escape-east-germany\/<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/focus\/2009\/10\/200910793416112389.html – yeah, I know; stopped clock and all that (smile)<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.mattlumine.com\/call-desire-freedom-away-east-germany-using-imagination\/?cn-reloaded=1<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/11\/07\/berlin-wall-escape-stories_n_6090602.html<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n