East German Defectors - Defectors

Defectors

Further information: List of Eastern Bloc defectors and Republikflucht

Although international movement was, for the most part, strictly controlled, there was a steady loss through escapees who were able to use ingenious methods to evade frontier security. In East Germany, the term Republikflucht (fugitives from the Republic) was used for anyone wishing to leave to non-socialist countries. Republikflucht attempts to leave the East Germany constituted a criminal act and carried severe penalties. Regarding the reasoning for such restrictions, a propaganda booklet published by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1955 for the use of party agitators outlined the seriousness of 'flight from the republic', stating "leaving the GDR is an act of political and moral backwardness and depravity", and "workers throughout Germany will demand punishment for those who today leave the German Democratic Republic, the strong bastion of the fight for peace, to serve the deadly enemy of the German people, the imperialists and militarists". Moreover, an attempt to flee via East Germany's fortified borders involved considerable personal risk of injury or death. Estimates for those killed attempting to escape over the Berlin Wall range from 136 to just over 200. About 75,000 people were caught and imprisoned.

Famous defectors include Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva (though she returned in 1984), Mig-25 pilot Viktor Belenko, U.N. Undersecretary General Arkady Shevchenko, chess grand master Viktor Korchnoi, and ballet stars Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova and Alexander Godunov. Famous East German defectors include author Wolfgang Leonhard, East German soldier Conrad Schumann who was photographed jumping the Berlin wall while it was under construction and a number of European football players, including Jörg Berger.

While media sources often reported high level defections, non-prominent defections usually went unreported. The number of non-public "black stream" defectors is not known.

On June 15, 1970, twelve mostly Jewish defectors were caught attempting to hijack a plane to escape from the Soviet Union, and were assigned harsh sentences, including death sentences for the two leaders, which were later commuted to 15 years in a labor camp. At least six attempted skyjacking defection attempts were made from Armenia, the Soviet Union and Lithuania from 1970 to 1971.

There were 3 hijackings of airliners by GDR citizens in order to escape to Western Germany; the most well-known is the LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking in 1978.

A more comprehensive compilation of defectors exists in the List of Eastern Bloc defectors.