Mass exodus from East Germany in 1989
Learn how East German citizens seeking asylum at the West German embassy in Prague were granted transport to West Germany through the efforts of West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, 1989.
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News •
Today in History: Berlin Wall falls after 28 years
• Nov. 9, 2026, 4:30 AM ET (Chicago Tribune)
Transcript
NARRATOR: Towards the end of summer 1989, the West German Embassy in Prague becomes a path to freedom for more and more GDR citizens. The police in still-socialist Czechoslovakia looks the other way. An eyewitness remembers.
HUBERT KUHN: "You couldn’t accept it any longer. We were old enough to see that and to understand, but young enough to say ‘It’s worth a try.' And if it’s worth it for 20 years, it’ll be 20 years. It’s definitely worth it."
NARRATOR: The embassy garden becomes a refuge for thousands of people.
CATHRIN HAUSSCHILD: "The conditions were catastrophic. There was very little room, it was cold, it was wet and it was very dirty. I felt pretty lonely and very confused and just didn’t know how it would end."
NARRATOR: East Berlin sends the lawyer Wolfgang Vogel. He promises the refugees a quick right of exit as long as they return home. Few follow his advice. Most stay in the embassy and still more arrive. Providing for them becomes increasingly difficult. Even at the United Nations in New York, the refugees in Prague become a point of discussion. West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher meets his GDR counterpart Oscar Fischer. East Berlin still wants the refugees to return to the GDR. But it is no longer in control of developments. Rudolf Seiters from the German Chancellery and Genscher negotiate with Moscow. The picture offered to the politicians in the embassy is not one they will easily forget. There are rumors of a decision about the refugees. The tension is unbearable. In the early evening, there’s a decision.
HANS-DIETRICH GENSCHER: "I kept trying to think what the right words would be. I knew that when I explained that the trains would go through the GDR, there would be resistance. And that’s how it was."
NARRATOR: Fear mixes with joy.
GENSCHER: "When the shouts became too loud, I said 'I personally guarantee that nothing will happen to you and that the trains will pass through the GDR without any problems. There will be two senior officials of the West German government on every train.'"
NARRATOR: In this way, more than 4,000 GDR citizens make their way to freedom. In East Germany, Erich Honecker, still head of the governing Socialist Unity Party, tells his media that no one will shed a tear about their departure.
HUBERT KUHN: "You couldn’t accept it any longer. We were old enough to see that and to understand, but young enough to say ‘It’s worth a try.' And if it’s worth it for 20 years, it’ll be 20 years. It’s definitely worth it."
NARRATOR: The embassy garden becomes a refuge for thousands of people.
CATHRIN HAUSSCHILD: "The conditions were catastrophic. There was very little room, it was cold, it was wet and it was very dirty. I felt pretty lonely and very confused and just didn’t know how it would end."
NARRATOR: East Berlin sends the lawyer Wolfgang Vogel. He promises the refugees a quick right of exit as long as they return home. Few follow his advice. Most stay in the embassy and still more arrive. Providing for them becomes increasingly difficult. Even at the United Nations in New York, the refugees in Prague become a point of discussion. West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher meets his GDR counterpart Oscar Fischer. East Berlin still wants the refugees to return to the GDR. But it is no longer in control of developments. Rudolf Seiters from the German Chancellery and Genscher negotiate with Moscow. The picture offered to the politicians in the embassy is not one they will easily forget. There are rumors of a decision about the refugees. The tension is unbearable. In the early evening, there’s a decision.
HANS-DIETRICH GENSCHER: "I kept trying to think what the right words would be. I knew that when I explained that the trains would go through the GDR, there would be resistance. And that’s how it was."
NARRATOR: Fear mixes with joy.
GENSCHER: "When the shouts became too loud, I said 'I personally guarantee that nothing will happen to you and that the trains will pass through the GDR without any problems. There will be two senior officials of the West German government on every train.'"
NARRATOR: In this way, more than 4,000 GDR citizens make their way to freedom. In East Germany, Erich Honecker, still head of the governing Socialist Unity Party, tells his media that no one will shed a tear about their departure.
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