The brave swimmer: Axel Mitbauer defies the Stasi and flees!

The brave swimmer: Axel Mitbauer defies the Stasi and flees!

Lienz, Österreich - The brave swimmer Axel Mitbauer remains an inspiring figure in contemporary history. In 1969 he dared to make the unimaginable: he swam 25 kilometers through the Baltic Sea to flee from the GDR and to live his life in freedom. He was oriented towards the stars and reached the Bay of Lübeck, after a competition that had not only sporty but also deep emotional dimensions. Kleine Zeitung reports that at the end of the 1960s he was a successful swimmer in the GDR national cadre and as a promising medal candidate for the Olympics in Mexico applied. But with his idea of ​​escape he attracted the attention of the Stasi.

His questions about escaping to the West led to the arrest of a friend in 1968, which made things even more dangerous for co -builders. In 1969 he was put into solitary confinement by the Stasi and had to endure mental torture before he was imposed on a lifelong sports ban. Despite these massive reprisals, Mitbauer decided in August 1969 not to wait any longer, but to realize his dreams.

a historical effort

On August 17, Mitbauer swam into the dark waters of the Baltic Sea after a warm farewell to his mother, who was involved with Vaseline. His escape was full of dangers because he had to surround headlights and patrols of the border brigade coast. After four hours and over 20 km in the water, he was finally discovered by a passenger of a ferry ship and brought to the Federal Republic of Germany. He successfully continued his swimming career there, in 1970 he won gold in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay at the European Championship. [Resor] ​​(https://www.resor.de/140-1/der-schwimmer.aspx) emphasizes that Mitbauer won a total of twelve titles in various swimming distances and GDR master was over 400m freestyle.

In the period between 1952 and 1989, over 615 athletes fled from the GDR. These escapes were often related to the pressure that the regime exercised on its athletes. Many athletes like Mitbauer lived with constant surveillance by the Stasi, which feared that such escapes could lead to a wave of emigration. The MfS, which increasingly monitored the athletes from the 1970s, processed cases such as that of Mitbauer in the central operational process of "sports traitors". Wikipedia describes the extensive consequences for fleeting and their families, which were often put under pressure to force a return.

a cinematic heir

The moving story of Axel Mitbauer also inspired the film world. Antonio La Regina, an East Tyrolean filmmaker, has dealt intensively with fellow builder flight since 2015 and made a film entitled "The competition of my life". La Regina, motivated by a near -death experience during a ski tour, shows both contemporary witness interviews and archive material in his documentary and gives history a lively, emotional depth.

The audience was touched by the premieres of the film and many were noticeable how much she moved the story of co -bauer. The main actor himself, now 75 years old, also spoke in interviews about his feeling of happiness after the competition and his thoughts at the time. The filming for the film contains scenes with extras in GDR clothing and let us participate in an exciting but also oppressive story that gives a deep insight into the life of an athlete in the GDR.