In 1961 there was the construction of the Berlin Wall. It separated East Germany (DDR) from West Germany (BDR). The reason for its construction was that many people from East Germany, who suffered under the totalitarian communist system, escaped and resettled in the democratic state of West Germany. East Germany threatened to bleed out' and to prevent further escapes the Wall was built.
But even after its construction several attempts to escape took place.
One of the most spectacular ones was the one from two DDR citizens in November 1986. They were called Dirk Deckert and Karsten Kluender. They both were unhappy to live under the totalitarian communist government. They lived near to the North Sea and came to the conclusion that the best possible attempt to escape was the one through the sea to Denmark. Although there were some patrols on the coast and some patrol ships in the sea, it was less risky than other variants. As it was late autumn, they thought nobody would really reckon with an escape through the cold waters of the North Sea. They thought they could easily reach the coast in the early morning hours without being spotted. Then they hoped to use to their surfboards for the crossing. They both bought themselves a compass, then they put their plan into action. On a winter night they approached the sea with Karsten's car, their wetsuits and their surfboards. Then, with their surfboards on their necks they approached the sea crossing the illegal zone. They were lucky, there was enough wind for the crossing. On the other hand, though, there were high waves and Dirk had trouble to get on his board and to start it. By the time Dirk was still struggling near the coast, Karsten was already on the open sea without having been spotted. Although he had some doubts if he was on the right way, the young man reached the Danish island Møn with great talent after nearly four hours and was brought to the village centre by fishermen.
