An East-West Swap

The exchange took place on the Glienicker Bridge spanning the Havel River between Potsdam, East Germany, and West Berlin. The Soviet and East German & officials clustered at one end, the Americans, led by Assistant Secretary of State Richard Burt, at the other. From the Potsdam side, a bus containing some two dozen East Germans and Poles who had been imprisoned as spies for the West crept to the span's center. The passengers switched to a West German bus and rode to freedom. Moments later, a blue van drove from the West Berlin side to the same spot. Three men and...

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