The Small
Escape

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BMW

May 23, 1963, a wet and gloomy evening: a BMW Isetta waits at the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing. The driver wants to cross the heavily guarded border and enter West Berlin. There is a line of cars at the East German checkpoint. The drivers are tense, the soldiers too; guard dogs are barking.

After more than an hour, it’s finally the turn of the Isetta. The grim-faced border guards check the driver’s papers and inspect the vehicle. These are agonizing moments for the young driver – and even more so for the passenger hidden in the tiny engine compartment of the Isetta. From his painfully cramped hiding place, he can hear muffled voices coming from outside. Just a few millimeters of metal are the only thing between him and the sharp eyes of the border guards. Suddenly, the hood is opened from above, and a flashlight is being shone inside. He holds his breath ... if the border guards discover him now, his escape to freedom will have failed and he will end up in an East German prison.