or do mind phantom is in fact like she's got. his shots in the air as he had bottoms for unseen. yet he is in the movie for the for this is her. bull garia for some justice some are paradise. for others the past to the free world. the 1980 s. when the world was still split into 2 camps with an iron curtain dividing europe

bulgaria was part of the eastern socialist bloc it was also a magnet for tourists from east and west alike who were drawn to black sea coastal resorts. it became a place where germans from both sides of the wall could meet. you can see who was a citizen of the german democratic republic the g.d.r. in september 1988 he and a friend flew off to bulgaria from. view of all members of us from all. who were and it was our 1st time on a plane and we were hoping to have a nice holiday here in bulgaria at the seaside. as well for me so it was really satisfying for me to go on a trip abroad for the 1st time. until then i'd only been allowed to go on holiday in the g.d.r. . it was really a feeling of joy leaving the country for the 1st time.

at the time anybody who wanted to travel outside the g.d.r. had to request official permission it was a lengthy procedure one that you're going to take had also gone through. the flight to bulgaria took 3 hours his greatest adventure had begun he was $24.00. and since. he arrived in borg was. the terminal was bustling back then today it's been abandoned time seems to have stood still and the memories come flooding back. to see who like was one of over 300000 tourists from east germany who visited bulgaria in 1908. he and his friend intended to spend 3 weeks

relaxing and lying on the beach. they wanted to party meet people enjoy life. despite big brother watching. over my in the group with them we were supposed to stay with our group or form smaller groups and never come into contact with others outside those groups over there with west germans for example and also feel of a sort of all when they wrote them and there were many west germans there. but we were supposed to stay with our east german group 'd. beginning in the 1960 s. the stasi started recruiting unofficial collaborators to work in bulgaria as holiday resorts these operative groups were given the task of keeping east german tourists under observation. at 1st the 2 friends kept to the

unwritten rules they didn't want to draw attention to themselves or raise suspicion because they did indeed have an alter your motive for being there. and your we did want to have a nice holiday here but in fact we had other plans on the plane. and . it's you don't have the. if i had to say i'm not too kind. as much as we tend. to follow up we got a. friend there was a nice t.v. film back then which we had watched on the one where there were scenes where you saw the bulgarian border and it just seemed possible to go right up to it and cross at those in the film there wasn't much checking going on. so that's how we thought it would be. but the reality was very different the 2 friends were not aware of the fact that at least 339 people were

shot trying to escape from bulgaria before 989 many of the documents relating to these deaths were destroyed if they were recorded at all. and his friend were on their way to their holiday destination sunny beach with gold necklaces and west german deutschmarks hidden in their socks to pay for their planned escape. you know. i mean that's the. only people who had hard currency could afford to spend an evening in the trendy bars and expensive restaurants this paradise was also clearly divided into 2 camps . the of one and what wouldst knows they want to sleep will be

the. laws. on de guiche they want to go back. in france boardman he ordered currency. you can see it was one of those unlucky guests from east germany. but when. this hotel here wasn't that great. the room was reasonably nice but whenever we took a shower it would completely flood everything and we would have to wait half an hour before the water drained away. leave. today the hotel has been renovated is modern and inviting until 989 it was only for guests from socialist states. who used to be a translator runs the hotel now. directly opposite is the

coop on which back in the day was one of the most luxurious hotels on the beach. 10 west germans were also staying here in 1988 you can see where they quickly got to know them. they always took us with them and paid for everything. we didn't have much money we weren't allowed to exchange so much everything was restricted. so they took us with them to discos and places we would never have gotten into on our own. we became friends and that was when we came up with an idea where. we thought maybe one of them could lend us their passport so that we could get on the boat to istanbul. then someone else would bring their passport back.

but none of them dared. that was too risky for them. so the 2 friends had to rethink their plans. but they didn't give up. they were determined to leave the g.d.r. . they no longer considered it home. but the decisive moment for me was when i wanted to go see my grandfather in the west who is turning 80. my mom and i both applied together. she was allowed to go but my application was rejected. but.

then 3 or 4 months later my grandfather died. and my mother my sister and i applied and once again my application was rejected and so i thought to myself. why should i continue to live in a state that treats me like this. i can't even go to my grandfather's funeral. why should i live in this state. i have to try to get out of here. well. i had already done my bit of the army for 18 months with my work plus over time i had finished school and my training and so on and i enjoyed it all. but then i was treated like this as if i were just a number and rejected without a reason. norman almost 2 and that was it for me. to be going no go no i don't want

those walls on. the 3rd of october 988630 am. if. you're. here for this if you hear you know. you could you want. it had been a difficult night but there was no going back it had taken a long time to get this far. the 2 had dressed up hoping to pass for west germans they left their suitcases in their room after all they were just supposed to be going for a hike. yet. their destination was the stranded on mountains on the bulgarian border with turkey. i was a border guard here in this region to go. to and.

the number. of the people crossing the border illegally. well mainly from the socialist camp. germans reported poles guerin's were who had come on holiday to bulgaria. but who actually wanted to get to western europe or to via turkey. or if you. ever thought. that was the post well a part of it and. that's where i began my service in that building behind those streets. and here's the new building. he retired almost 10 years ago and doesn't like to remember his time as a border guard even 30 years after the fall of the communist regime the subject of border security in bulgaria remains to boom. he doesn't want to give his real name

either. so we're calling him story on twitter off. he was 37 in 1988. on the 3rd of october he was on duty he was highly concentrated. he could afford no mistakes as this would lead to punishment. the border between bulgaria and turkey was a popular escape route because it was sparsely settled and there was a thick forest which offered protection and hiding places.

prison and. i don't believe that anyone should have been allowed to escape from the border is. it was our job to catch anyone trying to flee. we didn't really know why they were leaving. if they had family in the west. it was just an adventure for there. was simply to capture them. this in this in of of. these are the remains of the old eastern bloc borders own. story entourage was on duty precisely here. at the time the area was finally great so that movement could be easily detected.

the guards would quickly notice any attempts to cover up tracks and be able to tell if it was an animal or a human who had left the tracks. the thorny bushes behind the fence were also a deterrent. and each time the fence was touched a silent alarm was sent to the border post. but this was not the final obstacle the actual border was 2 kilometers away but few people knew this. when the alarm was triggered 2 squads would be sent out one went to the 1st crossing a restricted zone with a tracking dog the other unit went to the actual border people trying to escape hardly had a chance this is the area in which most defectors was shot dead. no

i never shot anyone who i never shot at people who are brittle with some other gun if someone was already close to the border and we couldn't catch him in a more than whether we would shoot in the air 3 times. these were warning shots. but there were places where people were shot without warning probably the only person but it was blunt talking about the actual border which was further away. it was your mistake a therapist prison. warden someone if someone didn't give in self up there. he would be shot at directly. there. so. we had no idea that guards were shooting there and that the border zone was

patrolled to such an extent it was almost more secure than in the g.d.r. . you know they are all on the 1st the 2 friends took the bus to book us then they took a taxi to maturity in the south of bulgaria without knowing it they were already in the border zone where anyone would have come under suspicion of trying to escape. they asked some locals if they would take them to the border but everyone refused saying it was too dangerous. for them. so they decided to continue on foot. and. they had no idea what was going to happen. they still believed they had a good plan. their kids caught in the family knew their goods there was no transport there wasn't

a bus there was nothing there. there was only a very narrow road that was in pretty bad shape and not many cars. of guns and there was a sign with the words border zone on it and we saw it but that didn't matter we knew where we wanted to go. but that we would come across a sign like this so soon that was surprising to us we didn't know that we were already in the border zone so far away from the actual border. we'd always thought it would be like in the film that we would be able to go right up to the border there would be a bridge a barrier or toll gate and we would simply go across it we didn't know about the whole border zone. by a lot of control and very close. bus coming from a long way off you hold those of my point and with me i hope that my friend wouldn't wave it down but he did and the bus stop was the earth was all it was and

all of green bussy. my boy. my friend talked a lot and tried to make contact with the driver and to tell him that he was from hamburg and a tourist and he was going i can hear. more goes through your mind you. they tried to bribe the driver with deutschmarks and a pinup picture but that didn't work. would do me no come to normal i got increasingly scared. i didn't know how to get out of the situation there were 3 warning. we have all those who call. i thought that we could maybe hijack the bus. when i could have easily driven it. then and i but we didn't do that either. of them for over and.

suddenly the bus came to a stop 13 kilometers from the turkish border 13 kilometers to freedom. they were made to get out and wait by the roadside under the watchful eyes of 2 border guards. but intrigued by your fall and then a jeep drove up for photo both recently ordered us to stand up and they tied our hands behind our backs and pulled bags over our heads. and then they threw us into the back of the jeep and there was one guns and view and we drove around for what felt like one or 2 hours. to fall we didn't know where they were taking us it was a feeling i just can't describe we're going. it was extreme words for him.

they were interrogated the same day. it was you and see who likes turned 1st. he would spend 6 hours in the interrogation room. he tried to stick to the story he'd worked out with his friend not a word about their plan defection. it was an elaborate fiction. there's a fog movie don't these questions came again and again. the interrogation went on for quite a long time. i told them we just wanted to visit the border area to look at it. we'd agreed in advance not to admit we wanted to defect. but the questioning went on for hours and they explained to us what the border area looked like and that we were lucky they hadn't shot us those were in the group to insulate your person and by that time i was so emotionally worn down that i told myself there's no point in

denying it anymore and telling these people stories. so i admitted that i wanted to flee to turkey through ball garia and then go on to my relatives in west germany. to be agreeable. you can see where they spent the 1st days after the failed escape attempt behind the walls of the central prison in bogus in solitary confinement in darkness. then he was transferred to another prison in sofia. there he shared a 3 by 4 meters cell with 2 other inmates. and we only had a 10 meter canister of water that. counted as drinking water. we had a wooden spoon with dirt on it so thick nobody would have dared to eat with it but the toilet was just

a bucket it's stored in the cell the whole day and was only emptied once a day. of. november 988 you transfer to east germany and put on trial the sentence was one year and 6 months in prison. story and target of couldn't find a valuable watch he'd been given as a reward for another arrest but he has many souvenirs from his years of service stored in his basement. now. i have no problem meeting up with him. i'm even curious to see him after so many years and shake his hand. so we can forgive. we all live in the same zone now in a free europe. back

then. you know. something our family yes she has 4 children. i don't have any hard feelings towards this man. that's just how it went. so much has changed in the world after 31 years. nobody expected the wall would fall. that everything would be so free and open. none of us saw that coming. for with this escape was the only possibility we saw. before. we tried to make use of it. when we're home simple be open ornament causal.

ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready ready mechanisms wait a minute do i know you. 'd 'd been there you know you're going to serve welcome once again to bulgaria. and the the making of i never would have expected to meet the man who arrested me here in bulgaria 31 years ago. do you recognize me have you still got the image in your mind. and might have recognized your features a little over the long ago that 'd it's been a long time. but do you know how many people pass through here. through house and you were just doing your job here your work but it's all in the past now. i look for going to i mean. i want. i want us to

keep each other we're brothers now living in one family. garia germany. gotta get my hair. what we ought to turn a new page portion of north and how many of the times are totally different and we're living in the here and now and not in the past in the. lake was released from prison early now he lives in southern germany and works as a stock man story on $2.00 still lives in the area his son became a border guard 2. decades after the fall of the iron curtain the bulgarian turkish border is once again closed off now it's meant to stop people from entering the european union.

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