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GDR Refugees with their New West German Passports (August 19, 1989)

Roughly 600 East German citizens crossed the Austro-Hungarian border during a “Paneuropean Picnic” on August 19, 1989. Shortly after entering Austria, they boarded buses bound for the West German embassy in Vienna, where they were given West German passports. The receipt thereof meant that they could enter the Federal Republic of Germany immediately, and some of them left Austria that very night. This photo shows a group of East German refugees gleefully flashing their new West German passports. Photo: Votava.

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GDR Refugees with their New West German Passports (August 19, 1989)

picture-alliance/dpa
(c) dpa-Bildarchiv