When the Iron curtain descended across Europe, and Berlin was the only hole unplugged, did large numbers of other Eastern Europeans flee that way as well? I know that East Europeans could across into other Eastern Bloc countries for tourism or work, so did significant numbers use Berlin as an opportunity to flee until 1961?
Did Soviet and Eastern bloc soldiers flee in large numbers to the west by this route? How were they treated in the west, I assume they weren't sent back...
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2This question probably could be more reliably answered by the: Berlin Wall Memorial - Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum. All persons were required to report there, so any statistics about nationality/profession would have been collected there.– Mark JohnsonSep 30, 2021 at 8:47
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Thank you for your question; please consider revising it to be more in line with our community expectations. Like other stacks, we expect questions to provide evidence of prior research. That helps us to understand the question, and avoids our repeating work you've already done. Our help center, and other stacks provide additional resources to assist with revisions. Please revise your question to document your preliminary research.– MCW ♦Sep 30, 2021 at 10:23
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1I don't believe they had the kind of unrestricted freedom of movement across national borders behind the Iron Curtain that this kind of question seems to be assuming.– T.E.D. ♦Sep 30, 2021 at 13:52
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@T.E.D. It depends The movement between DDR, CSSR and Poland was pretty much free from 1972 to 1990, one could cross the border with a domestic passport. But for other countries, such as USSR and Romania, it was much more restricted.– jmsterSep 30, 2021 at 16:18
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@jmster movement from East Germany to Poland got a bit difficult after 1980, too.– JanSep 30, 2021 at 22:37
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