The New Exodus

For weeks the refugee flow had been increasing. Suddenly, over the Easter weekend, it became a torrent. In four days, more than 4,200 East Germans, carrying their meager belongings in sacks and briefcases, showed up in West Berlin and at West German border points. It was the biggest exodus since the 1953 revolt in East Germany. All last week hundreds more arrived daily as harried West Berlin officials hastily arranged special flights to move them out of the city.

Gangs & Loudspeakers. The vast majority of the fleeing thousands were farmers, victims of Communist Party Boss Walter Ulbricht's frenzied three-month drive to achieve 100% collectivization of East Germany's farms before the Big Four summit meeting in Paris this month. They all had tales of rigors of resisting "voluntary" acceptance of collectivization. One gang of agitators stayed with a farmer from dawn to dusk for three days, nagging and haranguing, even followed him and his wife into their bedroom, where one night he finally and wearily signed up.

Other farmers were subjected to days of verbal bombardment from loudspeaker trucks parked outside their houses. Gustav Pohl, 60, a farmer near Rostock, had resisted collectivization for five years, but gave in fortnight ago to the agitators. "They told me I could keep one cow and a few chickens and pigs for me and my family. I asked what they meant to give me for my land. They said they did not have any money right now . . ." Quietly, Pohl sent his daughter off to "visit" relatives in West Berlin for Easter, then packed a few things in a net shopping bag, let his wife out the front door, locked it and slipped through a window. Two days later they made it across the border.

Farmers were not the only ones escaping. Recognizing that the state soon would be bringing all shopkeepers, craftsmen and professional people into collectives, hundreds of townspeople like carpenters, lawyers and merchants were fleeing westward. One woman explained that she had fled "because of the kids." Her little boy had just started school, and "he was turning into a real little Communist. When Easter came, I brought him to West Berlin, not telling him why. Sure enough, first thing he did was squawk that we had gone over to the Nazis and that we had left Grotewohl and Pieck just when they needed us."

Ignoring the Risk. After the first flood of escapes was detected, the East German police took alarm. They pounced on trains and blocked highways, picking up every farmer they found. Two groups of audacious Volkspolizei even sneaked across into West Berlin to interrogate suspects. But at week's end, despite the rising risk, hundreds were still slipping into West Berlin every day.

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