The Escapes Continue

Along the River Spree and the miles of adjacent canals where East meets West in Berlin, Communist floodlights play constantly across the water, shore guards listen for every suspicious splash, and East Berlin patrol boats watch for the smallest ripple. Hence the thrill of West Berliners last week at the tale of two East Berlin lads who not only swam to safety, but also dared to swim back across to Communist territory to show their pals the route.

The pair made their first break last month, spent two weeks in West Berlin's Marienfelde refugee camp pondering the plight of friends they left behind. Finally they slipped back to the canal shore and managed to get across again unseen. Scrambling onto the eastern bank, they cut the heavy apron of wire built by the Communists, made their way to a friend's house, where they soon collected five young men and four young women, including two married couples, and issued instructions for escape. One of the guides warned the tense little group: "Whoever loses his nerve, screams or anything, we'll knock him unconscious and drag him with us."

No one panicked in the first stealthy march through high grass toward the water's edge. But as the group neared the canal, one youth became so frightened that he slipped away and ran home. The rest waited until they were sure the coast was clear, then dashed for the canal bank, where the only remaining obstacle to freedom was the water's chill.

At least seven other East German refugees made it across last week. One man jumped from a rooftop to an elevated railway signal tower, then scrambled across the tracks to leap 20 feet into the waiting arms of West Berlin cops. Another suffered eight fractures when he stepped on a Communist land mine on the border, nevertheless crawled 13 hours through forests to reach the West.

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