Marnie recently watched "We Are Real Friends" and secretly made up her mind: in the future, she must go to Myanmar for a hot air balloon ride!
In the first episode of the program, the first thing Big S, Little S, Aya and Fan Xiaoxuan did when they arrived in Myanmar was to complete a "sky journey". Four best friends who had known each other for 20 years depended on each other and hummed a little song in the air to enjoy the sunset. , It's so romantic!
Now when we talk about hot air balloons, the first reaction is probably the beautiful hot air balloon valley in Turkey, or the old man who used a balloon to take the whole house and fly to the waterfall in "Travel around the house".
In short, in our impression, hot air balloons are always associated with beautiful words such as romance and hope.
However, in East Germany for 40 years, the three words "hot air balloon" are insulated from the above beautiful and romantic scenes. It represents a thrilling and true story:
In East Germany on September 16, 1979, two families, eight people, risked being arrested and shot dead, and decided to go all out and fly over the Berlin Wall in a homemade hot air balloon. They flew 18 kilometers, 28 minutes, and were called As "the greatest escape in human history."
The greatest escape in history
The story takes place after the end of World War II, Germany, which was once again a defeated country, was occupied by the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union under the Yalta Agreement and the Potsdam Agreement. Germany was divided into two, East Germany became a socialist country, and West Germany retained the capitalist system.
The protagonists of "Balloon" all live in East Germany. They originally lived a simple life without worrying about food and clothing. Until Peter attended the graduation ceremony of the eldest son, the principal spoke on stage, took the lead in swearing allegiance to the death, and threatened to continue to control the children.
The depressive atmosphere of the school made Peter determined to escape from East Germany. He felt that his children should have a more free and relaxed childhood.
Peter made a bold plan—to take the whole family to West Germany in a hot air balloon. For hardcore Germans, making balloons is not the most difficult. The most difficult thing is the determination to step into the balloon gondola, which requires decisiveness and courage to move forward.
When the north wind that had been waiting for two years finally blew, the Gantt family, the neighbors who had made an appointment with Peter, retreated. Peter did not give up, and took the whole family into the hot air balloon that he made by himself overnight, and flew to West Germany by the north wind.
However, after the balloon rose to the clouds, the temperature dropped sharply, the gas froze, and it couldn't light the fire at all. The balloon became more and more humid, heavier, and fell rapidly.
The Peter family had no choice but to land in the woods, but the thyroid medicine and prescription dropped unintentionally attracted the attention of the East German Ministry of Security. The secret police began to follow the prescriptions, trying to find them in the shortest time, and execute the whole family for defecting...
The tempo of the story speeds up abruptly. In order to escape the pursuit of the secret police, the Peters apply for political asylum at the US Embassy. After finally sending out a distress signal, the Americans did not come.
In the deserted Berlin, everyone is like the eyeliner of the secret police. Peter had to take his family and flee home, but he heard another bad news: neighbor Gantt received a call-up order and will enlist in the army in six weeks. If he does not leave, he will be forced to join the army and shoot at his compatriots.
If the two families want to flee, they must build another hot air balloon within six weeks, and they must also avoid the sky and earth nets of the Ministry of National Security.
The next segment is the climax of the whole film. Peter and Gantt fought a guerrilla war and launched an invisible contest with the Ministry of National Security. As for how they reaped hope in the desperate place and got the ultimate salvation, Marnie is not spoiled, leaving it to everyone to watch in the movie...
How hard are the East Germans in order to overcome the wall ?
This film is adapted from real events, but homemade hot air balloons are by no means the hardest way for East Germans to escape back then. Since the Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961, until the fall of 1989, 5043 East Germans successfully "flyed over Berlin". "Walls" include those who apply for fake certificates, dig tunnels, and swimmers. In short, the Eight Immortals cross the sea and show their magical powers.
On August 15, 1961, just three days after the Berlin Wall was built, when a patrol police car in West Berlin passed the Berlin Wall, the people in the police car shouted to the East German soldiers guarding the Berlin Wall: "Come here! Come here!"
Unexpectedly, the 19-year-old East German soldier Schumann suddenly threw off his rifle, threw away his cigarette, strode across the barbed wire, and ran into West Berlin.
His "flying" over the barbed wire fence was instantly photographed by photographer Rebin, and it became a world-famous classic.
Since then, in order to prevent similar incidents from happening, the Berlin Wall began to increase and thicken, and finally turned into a high-strength concrete 3.6 meters high and 1.2 meters thick. Along the wall there are 265 guard towers, 137 bunkers and 274 houses capable of keeping police dogs.
However, the high-pressure policy did not prevent the East Germans from fleeing. Peter and Gunter were just a drop in the bucket. In order to "over the wall", the East Germans staged a series of "spies and shadows" one after another.
When the Berlin Wall was built, there were still many low-rise buildings at the border between East and West, so the East Germans used a simple and rude method : jumping off the building.
The highest record was a 77-year-old woman who dared not jump down on the fourth floor until the secret police in East Berlin rushed into the house, and the old woman mustered the courage to jump out of the window...
With this leap of faith, the old woman survived safely.
Apart from jumping off buildings, hiding in the trunk of a car and driving a plane secretly are all basic operations. With the strengthening of the East German police inspections, the people's escape methods have become more and more hard-core.
The most creative is the homemade submarine. Although Germany is separated, its racial talent will not disappear. As "the strongest race in mechanical production", a buddy from East Germany used steel plates, motorcycle motors, and homemade navigation, compressed gas and other systems to actually create a A small submarine!
Some people may wonder whether the quality is satisfactory. In short, this buddy has sailed underwater for 5 hours without any malfunction during which he reached West Berlin smoothly.
After this miraculous escape was reported by West German reporters, major machinery companies rushed to hire him. Marnie had to sigh, sure enough, the real genius will not be buried by the environment.
The most domineering is the 27-year-old train driver Harry Detlin. In 1961, all trains from East Germany to West Berlin would cease to run, and Harry knew it would be too late if he didn't leave.
So on a dark and windy night for a month, Harry drove a train carrying his wife, children and 32 other passengers, and accelerated towards the terminal at the junction of East and West Berlin. Before the end, he closed his heart and eyes, and the train crashed like this. Into West Germany.
Of the 32 passengers in the car, 8 were completely unaware of this and were forced to come to West Berlin with a dazed expression.
The most witty is a beauty makeup boss who brought in a few model props and let these props sit in the back of the car in Soviet military uniforms. He put a moustache on himself, disguised himself as a Soviet, and just drove his jeep and swaggered. Passed the checkpoint.
This group of funny policemen in East Germany didn't dare to check the Soviets at all, and let the beauty gangsters pass with a salute.
Whoever says that learning makeup is useless in the future, Marnie will definitely use this example to slap her face!
The most legendary is a tunnel called "Project 57". In 1964, Fuchs, who successfully fled to West Germany, used a bakery in West Germany as a starting point to help more East Germans. It took six months to dig a tunnel 145 meters long and 12 meters deep. The exit leads to the bathroom of an apartment in East Berlin.
57 people successfully escaped through this tunnel, hence the name "No. 57 tunnel".
Of course, not everyone who circumvents the wall can succeed. More people pay the price of their lives and cannot reach the free world they yearn for.
On August 17, 1962, a young East German named Peter Fichtel was shot by East German police when he was over the top of the Berlin Wall. He stopped breathing in a pool of blood. Peter also became the first East German citizen to die by shooting since the Berlin Wall was built.
During the 28 years since the Berlin Wall was built, more than 60,000 people were imprisoned for trying to escape, 3,221 people were arrested for escaping the wall, 239 people were killed and 260 people were injured.
Until November 9, 1989, East and West Germany ushered in a historic moment. The citizens of East Berlin joined forces to overthrow the Berlin Wall. The citizens of the two Germans embraced frantically, and thousands of relatives who were forced to separate were reunited.
Nothing can stop the yearning for freedom
Regarding the Berlin Wall, someone once made such an evaluation:
"The walls in the world are to prevent people from breaking in. There is only one type of wall to prevent people from going out. What is that? That is the wall of a prison. Living in such a wall is not like being in a prison. ?"
The Peter family’s self-made hot air balloons seemed absurd, but it became the most “normal” pursuit of that era, because longing for freedom is the instinct of human beings.
Whether it was Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt 3,000 years ago, or Peter desperately fleeing East Germany 40 years ago, mankind could not and would not be reconciled to live in prison forever, giving birth to freedom or death. No one has the right to hinder another person from pursuing freedom, and neither can the head of state.
So when Peter and his party finally landed in West Germany smoothly, Marnie burst into tears. This was not only excited by success, but also moved by the belief that Peter and his family always had hope no matter how difficult they faced.
In the 28 years since the Berlin Wall was built, the East Germans hated this high power at first, and slowly adapted to living in its shadow. Finally, the high wall became a part of their lives.
And this change is actually a process of gradually abandoning hope in the heart.
But under this high wall and iron net, the persistent Peter always had the pursuit and longing for freedom, even if Gantt had an appointment to flee, even if the U.S. embassy refused their political asylum, even if it was the first time to "fly over Berlin". "The Wall" ended in failure, and Peter did not give up the hope of "escape".
It is also this "hope" guide that allows them to face the pursuit of Stasi and the secret police, but also to persevere, risking their lives in a balloon crash and being shot to make a big gamble and a fateful adventure.
Therefore, no matter what kind of desperation you face, people must have hope.
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