Campaign ManagerBehind The Iron Curtain
This story is all about Günter Wetzel and Peter Strelzyk. These two were co-workers and companions at a plastics factory. They lived in a tiny town called Poessneck. They were unfortunate to be living their life under the totalitarian rule of Communist East Germany. They did not have a sense of liberty and were faced with a lot of obstacles. All of their daily activities were monitored by their government.
Planning An Escape
They were thoroughly restricted from having any kind of contact with the outside world. The Stasi, the feared secret police, was constantly on surveillance. There also one very dangerous catch. Even your neighbor could be an intelligence agent so you had to keep a distance. Since their lives were too confined, it came to a point where they could not bear it anymore. They were ready to plan their escape.
Crazy Genius
As they went ahead with their plan to escape the country, Wetzel and Strelzyk were by chance struck with a brilliant but crazy idea. The two of them were desperately looking for an easy escape and an idea hit them. They came upon a forbidden magazine from the West which was sent to them by a relative. In it, the International Balloon Festival in New Mexico was featured and thus an idea was born.
Collecting Fabric
After brainstorming for a while, the two of them came up with an idea. Wetzel and Strelzyk soon came up with a clever solution to tackle this dilemma. Their plan was obviously going to drain a lot of their energy but since they had no choice, they had to go through with it anyhow. The two guys rode a car out of Poessneck to other towns so as to get the materials for their escape balloon
No Time To Spare
The weather that the needed would only show up on September 15, 1979. A heavy thunderstorm took over the East German skies, which carried strong winds that could surely take the families to West Germany. After midnight, while everyone was fast asleep, all family members got into Peter Strelzyk’s car but discovered they could not all fit. They needed to hurry and this was a huge problem.
A Shaky Take-Off
Both Wetzel and Strelzyk were hoping that their estimation would be enough for all eight family members. As they cut off the ropes, the felt the balloon rise and were flooded with exhilaration. Sadly one of the anchors shot up into the air and hit Strelzyk’s son square in the face which made him bleed heavily. The balloon slowly moved west and this was just one of their issues as they continued riding.
Sailing West
But the Wetzel and Strezlyk families were lucky to have a fire extinguisher onboard. They quickly killed the scorching flames that risked them and their balloon’s safety. In the cold weather, they hoped fate would guide them towards their destination. There was an East German watchman who noticed the balloon, alerting the authorities. They were high up so they were not clearly visible. After 28 minutes, the fuel ran out and they were falling.
Spotting An Audi
In other cases, Wetzel and Strelzyk would have dreaded being approached by the police. however, they were not alarmed as the policemen were in an Audi car which was not found in East Germany! They were over the moon to be told that they were indeed in the land of West Germany. They quickly called their other family members hiding in the forest to tell them the good news.
