Escape over the Berlin Wall from East Berlin

Familie Holzapfel daring escape over the Berlin Wall told in a graphic novel

The story of a daring escape by the Holzapfel family over the Berlin Wall from East Berlin to West Berlin.

A graphic novel on the fence tells the story of Holzapfel family and their daring escape over the Berlin Wall.

On July 29 1965, Heinz Holzapfel travelled with his wife and son from Leipzig to East Berlin.

The family hid out in a ministry building close to the wall before heading to the roof and signalling with a torch to helpers in West Berlin, who threw them a nylon rope tied to a hammer.

The night of the escape was cold and windy and the flight across the wall, in a pulley made from a bicycle wheel and a sling, was highly dangerous.

• PHOTOS Familie Holzapfel daring escape over the Berlin Wall
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