Helena Merriman

They would know it was safe to go when they saw a woman come in and order something specific.

Joachim was waiting for them in the basement. Finally, the escapees started to arrive in small groups. They started making their way through the tunnels.

Joachim was waiting for them in the basement. Finally, the escapees started to arrive in small groups. They started making their way through the tunnels.

The first person to go through the tunnel was a woman named Evie.

The first person to go through the tunnel was a woman named Evie.

How many people were able to escape?

How many people were able to escape?

Did the Stasi have any idea that this had happened?

Did the Stasi have any idea that this had happened?

NBC News edited their footage into a documentary film. And then word got out that the network had been filming, and even quietly funding, a tunnel operation.

NBC News edited their footage into a documentary film. And then word got out that the network had been filming, and even quietly funding, a tunnel operation.

The U.S. government was worried about starting a nuclear war with Russia.

The U.S. government was worried about starting a nuclear war with Russia.

The film was called The Tunnel.

The film was called The Tunnel.

Did people continue to escape?

Did people continue to escape?

One person was smuggled out of East Germany in a specially modified tiny BMW. Others snuck out under pig carcasses in a refrigerated truck. One man swam four hours across a canal to escape. Another man invented a small submarine scooter that would pull him across the Baltic Sea.

One person was smuggled out of East Germany in a specially modified tiny BMW. Others snuck out under pig carcasses in a refrigerated truck. One man swam four hours across a canal to escape. Another man invented a small submarine scooter that would pull him across the Baltic Sea.

An acrobat named Horst Klein crawled on a tightrope across the border, but months later went back to East Berlin after his wife sent him letters saying she couldn't live without him. It was a trap, and he was arrested and sentenced to hard labor. In 1979, two families attempted an escape over the wall in a homemade hot air balloon.