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had become determined to recruit Man-
fred as a spy. Manfred, for his part, was
equally determined not to sign up.
The Stasi’s pursuit began reasonably
enough, though after several refusals,
they began to turn to less conventional
tactics. In a move that could have been
pulled straight from the pages of a James
Bond script, the agency arranged for a
beautiful young student to “accidently”
run into Manfred. Posing as an English
student, her mission was to gather all the
information on her subject as she possibly
could, then report back to the Ministry
of Security – unfortunately for them, the
relationship between the young woman
and her target did not last very long.
The Stasi turned up the pressure. “If you
want to succeed in this country,” they
said, “you MUST enlist.” But again,
Manfred declined, stating he preferred
to advance on his ownmerits, rather than
through some secret security shortcut.
The recruiter threatened to evict Man-
fred’s mother from her flat in Berlin, but
still Manfred refused, though now he
could feel the danger mounting.
During this time, Manfred found himself
assigned to a visiting British ship, dem-
onstrating radar systems for a Western
company. He developed a friendly rela-
tionship with the captain and the crew,
even joining them for dinner the night
before they left for business in other coun-
tries. It was a cheerful goodbye, and the
captain invited Manfred to a good-bye
drink when they returned in ten days.
The day after the ship’s departure, Man-
fred’s boss informed him that, by din-
ing with the captain, he had fraternized
with the “class enemy.” He was sternly
forbidden from any further contact with
Westerners, effectively putting an end
to his career.
Defecting meant leaving everything he
had ever known behind - his friends,
his family, and above all, his 66 year
old mother! But Manfred felt he had no
choice; he decided he could no longer live
under these conditions in East Germany.
He would have to escape.
Escape – but how? The border to West
Germany was patrolled night and day
with armed guards and dogs. It was laden
with land mines, barbed wire, and self-
shooting devices – it would be suicide to
try. But then, the glimmer of an idea ap-
peared in his mind: the British ship.
It was a long shot, but he was willing to
try. He withdrew his savings, took his
few valuables and visited his mother in
Berlin. For fear of the STASI, he couldn’t
tell her or any other good friend the truth
about his escape plan. Instead, he told
her he might be transferred to Berlin,
which made her happy, and said he’d be
taking a short vacation to the island of
Hiddensee, the same story he’d told his
boss. When the ship returned to Rostock,
Manfred came aboard.
Once in theWest, Manfred faced an ironic
problem: he was detained for questioning
by German, British and American intel-
ligence. Suspicious of his time in the East
German army, they regarded him as a
potential Stasi agent! It was some time
before he could convince them he had no
one to report to.
Back in East Germany, the Stasi inter-
rogated Manfred’s mother and all his
friends, but no matter what they asked,
there was nothing to tell: no one knew
about his escape plan. Even his old “girl-
friend”, the Stasi plant, turned up at his
mother’s flat, pouring on the sympathy
in an effort to get information, but his
mother, knowing nothing, was safe. A
massive investigation was launched in
an effort to discover how he had escaped,
but Manfred had covered his tracks, leav-
ing the Stasi hunting for a loophole that
would never be found.
After his escape, Manfred took up work
as an electronics officer on a cable ship
in Vietnam and an instructor teaching
radar in London, eventually making his
way to America. In the 1970s and 80s,
Manfred’s mother was able to visit the
United States several times, as any
woman over sixty could get an exit permit
to the West (if the women didn’t return
home, the government figured, it would
save itself the cost of a pension and get
an apartment back). Manfred asked her
to stay, but she refused, insisting that
she was a true Berliner and that, “One
doesn’t transplant an old tree.”
In 1989, Communism crumbled, and
along with it came down the great di-
viding Wall. Under the German Free-
dom of Information Act, Manfred was
able to request a copy of his STASI file
from the Berlin archives. Several inches
thick, it showed copies of reports made
by his friends, colleagues, and neighbors,
statements giving negative information
about him, and his expressed political
views. It documented the Western radio
broadcasts he’d listened to, the ‘forbidden’
books he’d read and even the ‘decadent’
western hit tunes he’d played on his gui-
tar – all strictly against the rules of the
Communist party. Manfred realized, had
he confided in any of his ‘friends’, Stasi
would have imprisoned him on the spot.
The final report in his file, written by the
STASI, admitted a complete failure in de-
termining just howManfred had escaped.
In the end, it was Manfred’s own secrets
that had outwitted the secret police, earn-
ing him passage to a place where one did
not have to live in fear. For Manfred, the
only way to live, and the way he has lived
ever since.
Further details of this remarkable man
can be found in his autobiography,
Chas-
ing the Sun
, and its sequel
Singed by the
Sun
, authored under the pen name Patric
Sanders.
The Cable Ship
Neptun
, docked at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, October 1966
