1 BERLIN 2-12 TWO INCHES TO SAFETY SINCE THE HATED WALL WENT 
UP IN 1961, ESCAPEES HAVE INGENIOUSLY GOTTEN PAST IT BY TUNNELING, 
CLIMBING, JUMPING, OR BY JUST KNOCKING IT DOWN . LAST WEEK 
A YOUNG AUSTRIAN OUTDID THEM ALL, SMUGGLING OUT HIS PRETTY FIANCEE 
AND HER MOTHER THROUGH THE SIMPLE EXPEDIENT OF KEEPING HIS HEAD 
DOWN . HEINZ MEIXNER, 20, HAD MOVED TO WEST BERLIN TWO 
YEARS AGO TO TAKE A JOB AS A LATHE WORKER . 
AS A FOREIGNER, HE WAS ABLE TO CROSS THE LINE FREELY 
INTO EAST BERLIN, WHERE, AT A STUDENTS' DANCE LAST SEPTEMBER, HE 
FELL IN LOVE WITH TINY, ATTRACTIVE MARGARETE THURAU . WHEN MARGARETE 
APPLIED FOR PERMISSION TO EMIGRATE TO AUSTRIA, COMMUNIST POLICE TOLD HER 
THAT SHE SHOULD MARRY HER YOUNG MAN IN EAST BERLIN AND 
SETTLE DOWN THERE . THIS WAS MORE THAN MEIXNER COULD BEAR 
. " AS SOON AS I HEARD THAT, " SAYS MEIXNER, 
" I MADE UP MY MIND TO GET HER OUT . 
" LAST EXIT . HE LAID HIS PLANS WITH METICULOUS CARE 
. TO GET A GOOD LOOK AT THE COMMUNIST SIDE OF 
THE FRIEDRICHSTRASSE CROSSING POINT FOR FOREIGNERS, MEIXNER STALLED HIS MOTOR SCOOTER 
NEAR THE PEPPERMINT-STRIPED STEEL BEAM THAT CLOSES THE LAST EXIT IN 
THE WALL . PRETENDING TO HAVE ENGINE TROUBLE, HE MEASURED THE 
HEIGHT OF THE BARRIER, FOUND THAT IT WAS ONLY 37F IN 
. FROM THE GROUND . HIS NEXT STEP WAS TO SEARCH 
THE CAR RENTAL AGENCIES IN WEST BERLIN FOR A SPORTS CAR 
SMALL ENOUGH TO SLIP UNDER THE BEAM . HE FINALLY DECIDED 
ON AN AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE, WHICH, WITHOUT ITS WINDSHIELD, MEASURED 35F 
IN . HIGH . MEIXNER CONFIDED IN ANOTHER YOUNG AUSTRIAN, GAVE 
HIM AN EXACT TIMETABLE OF HIS PLANS AND ASKED HIM TO 
PREVENT ANY CARS ON THE WESTERN SIDE FROM STARTING INTO THE 
BARRIER AREA AT THE CRITICAL MOMENT . AT LAST, WHEN HIS 
PLANS WERE COMPLETE, MEIXNER DROVE HIS LITTLE SPORTS CAR BACK INTO 
EAST BERLIN TO MARGARETE'S HOUSE . MARGARETE CROUCHED IN THE NARROW 
SPACE BEHIND THE DRIVER'S SEAT ; HER MOTHER WAS WEDGED INTO 
THE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT . " LUCKILY, " SAYS PETITE MARGARETE, " 
MOTHER IS JUST LIKE ME . " LEAVING NOTHING TO CHANCE, 
MEIXNER ALSO LET AIR OUT OF HIS TIRES TO LOWER THE 
CAR . SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT, MEIXNER DROVE TO THE ENTRANCE OF 
THE FRONTIER AREA, SHOWED HIS AUSTRIAN PASSPORT TO A GUARD, WHO 
WAVED HIM ON TO THE CUSTOMS OFFICER . BRICKS FOR MAMMA 
. IT WAS THE TIME FOR ACTION . INSTEAD OF PULLING 
UP AT THE CUSTOMS SHED, MEIXNER GUNNED HIS MOTOR, SKIDDED AROUND 
THE SLALOM BARRIERS, AND SHOT PAST THE STARTLED GUARD . LOOMING 
BEFORE HIM WAS THAT LAST BAR . FOR ONE TERRIFYING MOMENT, 
IT SEEMED TOO LOW TO CLEAR . BUT HE HAD MEASURED 
WELL . JAMMING HIS FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, MEIXNER DUCKED HIS 
HEAD AND WHIZZED INTO WEST BERLIN . BY THE TIME HE 
GOT THERE, HE WAS GOING SO FAST THAT HE LEFT A 
96-FT . SKID MARK WHEN HE JAMMED ON THE BRAKES . 
SAFE WITH HIS PASSENGERS, MEIXNER EXPLAINED HIS ESCAPE PLAN TO STARTLED 
WEST BERLIN POLICE : " I FIGURED IT WOULD TAKE THE 
VOPOS THREE SECONDS TO DRAW THEIR WEAPONS ONCE THEY REALIZED WHAT 
I WAS DOING . BUT I THOUGHT I COULD MAKE IT 
IN THOSE THREE SECONDS . BESIDES, WE HAD 30 BRICKS BEHIND 
MRS . THURAU TO PROTECT HER IF FIRING STARTED . / 
