2 E. Germans Swim to Freedom in West
WEST BERLIN — An East German man and woman eluded a Communist patrol boat as they swam across the Havel River to reach freedom in West Berlin on Thursday, police said.
West Berlin police said the pair started out from the western bank of the Havel near the East German village of Nieder-Neuendorf. They swam about 450 yards in the early morning darkness before reaching the Heiligensee district in the northwestern part of West Berlin.
East German border guards in a patrol board used searchlights in an attempt to track the pair, police said in a statement released to the news media.
The names of the pair were not released under West Berlin police guidelines aimed at protecting relatives still in East Germany.
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