On December 5, 1961, a 27-year-old man was able to flee to the West from the first floor of the building at Bernauer Straße 2. He managed to reach the border houses, most of which had been evacuated, by crossing through backyards unnoticed. He knocked a few bricks out of a walled-up window, squeezed himself through the hole and jumped down about seven meters. The border guards did not notice him until he was hanging in front of the building. West Berlin police picked the man up and carried him away.