Escape from East Berlin

Shortly after the Berlin Wall is erected on August 13, 1961, many East Berliners dream about escaping to the west. One of those who has not even considered it is Kurt Schroder, a driver for Major Eckhardt and his vixen wife Heidi with who Kurt is having an affair. Kurt is for the most part satisfied with his life. Most recently, he saw his friend, Gunther Jurgens, get killed while trying to crash a tow truck through a gate in the wall. Gunther's sister Erika, thinking that her brother made it to freedom, makes her own attempt before she is saved from certain death by Kurt, who doesn't get to tell her the truth about Gunther. But all the resulting talk about escaping by Erika, their desperate neighbor Marga whose husband is in the west, and his own family makes Kurt at least think about it. He believes the problem with most of the failed attempts is that they either tried to go over or through the wall. His plan is to go under the wall through a tunnel dug from their house which is adjacent to the wall. They will use his Uncle Albrecht's band practices as a noise distraction from the drilling. There is one part of the plan with which Kurt's family does not agree. Even if they do complete the tunnel, potential problems are others knowing about the tunnel and who either want to escape as well or are sympathetic to the Communists and will report the activity to the authorities.