Wolfgang Engels

Wolfgang Engels ( * 1943 in Dusseldorf ) is a former East German soldier, which in 1963 was known as the Republic of refugee when he broke through the Berlin Wall with a stolen armored personnel carrier.

Childhood and youth

Wolfgang Engels mother, a West German member of the KPD, moved in 1952 with her son in order party to East Berlin, Dresden and later married a major in the National People's Army. Engels learned there after high school the profession of the locksmith. In 1960 he became a soldier, initially stationed on Rügen, later to border security in East Berlin. The decision to flee came after Angel was arrested with friends near the wall because of allegedly attempted to flee the republic, although the group was only inadvertently enters into the restricted area at the Reichstag building.

Escape

On April 17, 1963, Engels went to the NVA - terrain Magerviehhof Friedrich field where the 8th Motorized Rifle Division was stationed. There he first met with the present armored car drivers and settled in exchange for a ride in his limousine service vehicle technologies explain. When the soldiers left the area for dinner, Engels stole one of the parked armored personnel carriers, which he wanted to break through the wall. He selected a spot in Treptow at the corner Elsen-/Heidelberger road that was easily accessible for vehicles of this type. A few hundred meters from the border fortifications held in Angels and asked some passers-by, whether they want to join his escape. Since no one got on, Engels went on alone. To 19.44 clock he hit his vehicle from the border fortifications. The front of the armored vehicle broke through the barricade, as Engels, however, stalled the engine, the car got stuck and the exit was still on the East German side. Angel left the car and tried to climb over the bonnet across the wall. A member of the East German border troops opened fire, which was returned by a West Berlin police protection. Angel suffered a lung penetration and injury to the left hand. With the help of guests from a nearby restaurant that drew the wounded on the western German side, but he finally managed to escape.

Life in West Germany

Wolfgang Engels later taught as a teacher at the secondary school in Soltau the subjects of history and biology.