Wolfgang Fuchs; Dug Tunnels Under Berlin Wall to Aid in Escapes

Wolfgang Fuchs, 62, who helped many former East Germans flee to the West by digging tunnels under the Berlin Wall, died June 7 of cancer in Berlin, the news weekly Der Spiegel reported.

In 1957, Fuchs fled his home in the East German city of Jena and settled in West Berlin. The first person he helped to the West was his brother-in-law, whom he pulled across the Berlin Wall in 1962.

Two years later, Fuchs rented an old bakery near the border between East and West Berlin. From there, he and 15 others dug a tunnel into the East. Over two days--Oct. 3-4, 1964--Fuchs and his helpers guided 57 people through the tunnel into West Berlin, Der Spiegel said.

Fuchs also helped dig other tunnels, it said, but after helping East Germans flee through the tunnel from the bakery, he opened a drugstore in a different West Berlin neighborhood and returned to a quieter life.