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Witness History: East German refugees in the Prague embassy

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East German refugees in the Prague embassy

23/10/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, East German refugees in the Prague embassy

Thousands of East Germans sought refuge in the West German embassy in Prague in 1989.

Thousands of East Germans sought refuge in the West German embassy in Prague in the summer and autumn of 1989.

Thousands of East Germans fled to the West in the summer and autumn of 1989, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many of them sought refuge in the West German embassy in Prague, where they camped in the grounds and slept in stairwells and corridors, fed by the Red Cross. On September 30th, West German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher announced that they were free to travel to West Germany.

Hubert and Susanne Kuhn lived in the embassy with their three children for three months. They spoke to Lucy Burns about their experiences.

Photo: a crowd of East-German refugees in Prague wait to be transferred to West Germany after East Germany lifted restrictions on emigration (PASCAL GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)

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