In Tunnel 29, Helena Merriman weaves five stories into one gripping real-life page turner. Between August 12, 1961, and November 9, 1989, a wall divided Germany’s capital Berlin in two. Begun in the dark of night, within days it locked citizens of the communist German Democratic Republic away from its western twin, the Federal Republic of Germany. Almost immediately, people began finding escape routes out of the prison their government had created.
She starts with Joachim, a man blessed with a near-photographic memory. A triple escapee, he first must survive the Nazis on his family’s farm in the East. When the Soviets arrive to “liberate” the country, his family attempts to flee to Berlin, but are unable to evade the raping Russian army. His father is enslaved, and Joachim once again leaves the farm with his mother and sister for the relative safety of the Soviet sector of East Berlin. He grows into a clever, resourceful young man, an engineer who sees life as a series of problems which can be overcome with persistence and the right tools. Once the wall appears, he and a friend manage to evade the “people’s police”, the VoPo, across an open field to West Berlin. Once there, he becomes involved in a scheme to help others escape – a tunnel under the wall.
Siegfried visits the walled-in city, and, becoming ensnared by the Stasi, the State Security Service of the East, he agrees to collaborate, hoping to avoid the revelation of his conviction for homosexuality. His information helps foil another tunnel attempt, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of nearly 50 East Berliners
The Stasi are ruthless, persistent, and meticulous. Using documents painstakingly recovered from their attempts at shredding after the fall of the wall, Merriman uncovers details about her characters, providing invaluable background and depth to the action and people she brings to life. The emotionless Stasi lurk constantly in the background, an ominous threat spurring on the tunnelers.
Meanwhile, NBC News producer (and later president) Reuvan Frank and presenter Piers Anderton spend months seeking an escape story for their American viewers. They manage to connect with Joachim and his team. Skirting to the edge of journalistic ethics, they underwrite some of the expenses faced by the diggers, and even serve as lookouts during the climactic escape itself. Aided by footage from a local film crew, their documentary airs three months later, once the US State Department lifts its objections.
Finally, the stories of several potential escapees reveals the fundamental reasons the tunnel crew digs ever forward, despite floods, missed connections, and even the failure of another tunnel crew. Peter and Evie, with their young daughter Annette have placed their hope in finally fleeing the city. Wolf-Dieter and Renata, lovers separated by the wall, are caught in Siegfried’s trap, each serving several years in jail. And Claus hopes to be re-united with his pregnant wife after he was able to escape, leaving her behind.
Merriman first presented her voluminous research as a “true-crime” BBC podcast in October, 2019. With ten 15-minute episodes, interspersed with sounds of digging and period music, she narrates the bare bones of the story she now artfully expands into a complete novelistic rendition of the history of oppression in East Germany, the fight against that imprisonment, and the ultimate triumph by undaunted individuals to retain their agency and humanity.
5/5 stars; the best book I’ve read so far this year. I consumed the 10-hours Audible version in one day driving from Twin Falls to Gig Harbor.