At that time and place, the wall was only a single coil of concertina wire. On 15 August 1961, the 19-year-old Schumann was sent to the corner of Ruppiner Strasse and Bernauer Strasse to guard the Berlin Wall on its third day of construction. After three months' training in Dresden, he was posted to a non-commissioned officers' college in Potsdam, after which he volunteered for service in Berlin. Schumann took up a new job at a winery and eventually at the Audi car assembly factory in Ingolstadt, where he worked for nearly 30 years.Born in Zschochau (now part of Ostrau, Saxony) during World War II, Schumann enlisted in the East German Bereitschaftspolizei (state police) following his 18th birthday. In 1962, he met and married Kunigunde Gunda in GГјnzburg. Schumann went from West Berlin to West Germany, settling in Bavaria. The scene, including Schumann's preparations, was also filmed on 16-mm film from the same perspective by camera operator Dieter Hoffmann. The photograph, entitled 'Leap into Freedom', has since become an iconic image of the Cold War era and featured at the beginning of the 1982 Disney film Night Crossing. West German photographer Peter Leibing photographed Schumann's escape. ДЄt roughly 4:00 PM, Schumann jumped over the barbed wire while dropping his PPSh-41 submachine gun, and was promptly driven away in the van by West Berlin police. One young man came close and Schumann yelled at him 'Get back at once', then whispered 'I'm going to jump!' The young man alerted the West Berlin police, who showed up with a van. West Berlin bystanders started to take notice. Over the course of two hours, when no other soldier was watching, he pushed down the same section of wire. Schumann started to think that he should leave, especially after trucks arrived with concrete posts and steel plates. I didn't want to shoot and I wasn't supposed to.' Д«efore Schumann was forced to act, more soldiers arrived in armored cars and pushed the crowd back with rifles fixed with bayonets. I was nervous and didn't know what to do. I thought: they're going to run over us right away. They shouted various slogans, including ' Freiheit (Liberty).' Schumann recalled: 'Suddenly the mass of people moved toward us like a living wall. ДЄround noon, a west Berlin crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators approached the wire at Schumann's post. The young lady apologized for not being able to visit, then motioned to Schumann and added, 'Those over there, they won't let me cross anymore.' Schumann started to reconsider whether he really wanted to spend the rest of his working life keeping his fellow citizens imprisoned. A young lady in east Berlin passed a bouquet of flowers over the top of the wire to an older lady in west Berlin, obviously the younger lady's mother, and wished her a happy birthday.

'You pigs!' 'You traitors!' 'You concentration camp guards!' Throughout the day, as Schumann paced ten steps up and down, West Berlin residents shouted catcalls. Nobody had told us how that's done: taking control of a border.' ДЄt that time and place, the wall was only a single coil of concertina wire. He and his unit arrived at 4:30 AM, where an officer ordered them to take control and protect the border 'against the enemies of socialism.' Schumann later recalled: 'We stood around looking pretty stupid at first. Born in Zschochau (now part of Ostrau, Saxony) during World War II, Schumann enlisted in the East German Grenzpolizei (border police) following his 18th birthday.

Konrad schumann