1970
Jane Peterson
was a 19-year-old American college student visiting her sister Polly, who was studying abroad in West Berlin. Curious about the other side of the city, Polly took Jane across the wall into Soviet-dominated, Communist East Berlin. That night, at an underground party with some local East German College students, in walked Wolfgang Müller, and Jane’s life changed forever. The unlikely couple fell madly in love with each other, despite the seemingly insurmountable language, ideologic, political, and geographical barriers between them.
Wolfgang Müller
was an East German student studying Japanese poetry with no real life or future, always under surveillance by the Stasi, and trapped behind the concrete barriers of the Wall. Jane was a bright American student, born in the hippie era, with her whole life ahead of her, yet she chose Wolfgang and the future challenges that came with her decision. From the moment they met, they were inseparable. Jane refused to live without him, yet refused to live oppressed and constantly watched behind the Berlin Wall. She had to get him out.
1974
Jane’s Plan
Despite the family’s pleas, urging her to come home where it was safe, Jane spent the next four years planning Wolfgang’s escape. After many failed attempts and close calls, Jane resorted to desperate measures and befriended an American sergeant stationed in West Berlin, Ned Morse. With Ned’s help, Jane devised a risky plan that if failed would seal Wolfgang’s fate on the other side of the wall.
The plan began with Jane using her feminine guiles and quick wit to charm the literal pants off American soldiers - smuggling stolen uniforms across the border within the lining of her coat. Meanwhile, Ned found a look-alike decoy to switch places with Wolfgang in the East on the day of the escape.
The Escape
April 6, 1974, in his VW van, Ned drove into East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie. Ned’s picture was taken and held at the checkpoint as the record of his entry. A few minutes later, the decoy walked into the East, had his picture taken, then disappeared into a basement bar for the day.
Ned drove to the Pergamon Museum and met Wolfgang for the first time, dressed in full disguise as an American soldier. Despite the chance that this might be a trap, both men trusted each other and carried out Jane’s plan. They drove around East Berlin for a time, taking pictures, behaving as typical American soldier touring the city. Soon they felt eyes on them, a car following them, and saw guards in towers calling in their location. It wouldn’t take long for the VOPO and Stasi to realize there were two identical soldiers in the East, with only one on record. It was time to go.
With Ned driving close behind him in the van, Wolfgang began walking through the barriers of Checkpoint Charlie. At the border, calls rang in, furious arguments ensued, and guns pointed down from the towers, as the East Germans realized Wolfgang could be the real American or an escapee. But his picture matched that of the decoy, and the East Germans couldn’t take the shot. They let him through. He was free and quickly collapsed into the arms of Jane waiting on the other side of the Wall. Jane’s plan was so simple, so audacious, that it worked.
EPILOGUE
The Woman who broke through the cracks of the Berlin Wall
Two weeks after his escape, Jane and Wolfgang married in West Berlin. Eight months later, Wolfgang received his green card, and they moved to the United States. Jane became a lawyer and law school professor, devoting most of her career to helping low-income individuals and victims of domestic violence. Wolfgang became a professor of German. He taught language, literature, and culture and founded an online journal of German literature and culture. Forty years later, Jane and Wolfgang are still happily married, with two sons and now two grandchildren.
