Escape Attempt Procedures

Tracking & Searches

Border guards on a tracking exercise		An escape attempt was something the Grenztruppen worked hard at preventing and were quite successful at it. In addition to the daily patrols, the border guards depended heavily on electronic sensors, signal flares, and watch dogs to warn them of an escape attempt. To bolster their ability to intercept a border violator, the Grenztruppen also maintained a reaction force that responded to any suspicious or irregular activities within the border area. When searching for a possible violator the guards would look for the following signs: tracks in the Control Strip holes dug under the fences sections of the fence pulled apart footprints or mud left on fence posts as the violator climbed the fence patches of clothing caught on barbed wire or fencing sections of barbed wire pulled apart or cut timber, boards or other items propped against the fence for use as a ladder personal items dropped or abandoned during the flight cut or damaged locks on gates If tracks were found a border guard would: mark the tracks to protect them from damage notify superiors protect the scene and record information (sketches, photos, etc.) If the Grenztruppen suspected an intruder was within the restricted areas a search would follow. Two basic search techniques involved a spiral or zigzag pattern to locate the intruder within the zone. To assist the search the border guards also had at their disposal K-9 trackers as well as a special hound pack that could be released to flush the suspect out of hiding.


Officer showing border guard a set of tracks. - NVA

Sketch from a border guard handbook showing how to mark tracks and search the "crime scene."





		Search patterns used by the Grenztruppen - Handbuch fuer den Grenzdienst