Boris Franzke (born in 1937) was one of the most active escape tunnel builders in Berlin in the early 1960s. He was involved in the construction of no fewer than seven escape tunnels, only one of which was ultimately successful.
In a lecture and subsequent discussion, he talks about his time as an escape helper. Despite the failure of many of his tunnels, Boris Franzke never lost hope or motivation - on the contrary: he persistently continued digging to enable family and friends in particular to find their way to freedom in West Berlin. Because of this incredible commitment, Boris Franzke and his brother Eduard have rightly gone down in the history of the Berlin escape tunnels as the "Franzke brothers".
in 1962, a dramatic situation arose: Boris Franzke almost lost his life during a tunnel project that he and like-minded people were digging from a West Berlin property in Zehlendorf to Kleinmachnow in Brandenburg: the Stasi(Ministry for State Security) was already aware of the escape project and had laid explosives along the route of the tunnel... But it was the Stasi's demolition expert who prevented this infamous and scheming plan from being carried out. Boris Franzke still talks today about this Stasi employee who saved his life and the lives of others through his actions.
- Location: Brunnenstraße 142, 10115 Berlin (near Bernauer Straße subway station)
IN GERMAN
