Berlin Wall started coming down 20 years ago.
The night of November 9th, people were climbing
it freely, and even started cutting away at
it.
But in the decades that the wall was standing,
many of those who wanted to flee the Communist
East went underground, at first using Berlin`s
subway system and canals.
But by the end of 1961 troops had sealed them
off,
so people started digging their way to freedom,
via illegal tunnels, some looking like this
model.
The first was finished in September,
1962.
Its entrance was hidden in a house,
number 7 Schoenholzer Stresse,
right across from the wall on the eastern
side.
Anita Moeller, along with her husband and
baby,
entered the tunnel through a hole in the basement
of the house.
She says she remembers there was a track in
the middle of the tunnel, and she remembers
crawling on her knees.
She says she had to battle claustrophobia,
but noted that really, there was no time for
her fears.
Her brother, Hasso Herschel, had dug the tunnel
to get her out of East Berlin.
He says he didn`t see her for two or three
hours after packing her up and sliding her
down into the basement.
All told 29 people fled through that shaft
of his first tunnel, making it one of the
most successful at the time.
Herschel went on to dig several more tunnels.
Working into the 1970s, he helped dozens of
people to escape.
Hasso Herschel: It was the best thing I did
in my life because you did something you were
100 percent sure was the right thing to do.
And with every success came the embraces.
Not everyone made it, though, and sometimes
tunnels were discovered by authorities before
they could be used.
Today, Berlin`s Cold-War era bunker and tunnel
system has become a popular tourist attraction
for visitors and locals alike.
Karen Sloan, The Associated Press.
