Further Media
The brothers Christian and Jan Reichl grew up in a largely apolitical home. However, both were involved in the youth organizations of East Germany, the "Thälmann Pioneers" and the "Free German Youth". This Pioneer neckerchief belonged to Jan.
When more and more people left East Germany in the wake of the peaceful revolution in 1989, Jan also decided to secretly flee to the West. He set off for Prague, hoping to reach the West via the West German embassy there. His escape was successful, and shortly afterwards he arrived at Helga and Herbert's home in Pforzheim.
His spontaneous escape came as a complete surprise to his family. In an interview, Christian Hoffmann, who was nine years old at the time, recounts his memories of this event:
"Even as a child, it was a psychologically stressful situation. Would we ever see my brother again, or what would happen next? We also could have suffered reprisals from the state. [...] No one knew that this change ["Wende"] was coming."