In 1962 and 1963, side and back buildings adjoined to the border houses were torn down. Border soldiers kept surveillance on construction workers assigned to the demolition work. The truck driver Guenter P. arrived at the construction site at the Kobold factory on July 2, 1962. As another truck was maneuvering through the narrow driveway and the border guards’ view was blocked, he climbed over the Wall next to the building at Bernauer Straße 23. Two women working in the Kobold plant observed the escape and informed a construction worker who notified a border guard that P. had “taken off”. By then, however, Günter P. had safely reached the West.