Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill
By Greg Mitchell
Crown, 2016. 382 pgs. Nonfiction
The Berlin Wall fell nearly 30 years ago. Many have forgotten the price people paid to cross that barrier between East and West Berlin. Before it was built in 1961 Berliners traveled from east to west for daily jobs, school, to visit families – and to flee to the West. Once the infamous barrier was built a person’s life was forfeit for trying to cross it. Yet thousands and thousands defied the East German government, crossing the barrier by balloon, jumping from windows across the barrier into firemen’s nets in the west, using fake papers, and escaping via underground tunnels joining East Berlin and West Berlin.
In 1961 no one was sure whether western pressure against the Russians and East Germans because of the wall might escalate to war. JFK was already embroiled in the Cuban missile crisis and famously said, “A wall is better than a war.” This compelling book gives accounts of several tunnel projects that were successful routes for escaping East Germans. The author also fills in the details about the political tensions of the time which could easily have flared into war. SH
