The Wave of Fear

In this mainly autobiographic report of an escape made by an “average joe”, the reader finds himself in the midst of something, where many brave people have lost their lives in previous attempts: Germany’s Death Strip. Living by the motto of “anything goes, I have got to make it to a better life”, Otto von Gehr describes how he made his big move, to escape from the communist East-Germany to the promising wonders of the West. In a moment of desperation, spontaneity and total craze, he decides to leave the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik; translation: GDR, German Democratic Republic), make history and change his life for the better, not knowing what grave dangers lie ahead. In his description of an unprecedented and dramatic escape, the author tells his view of day-to-day life in East-Germany, its routines, advantages and major disadvantages from the author’s point of view are named and told. If Otto would not have made his escape, this book would not be in existence to date. Many tried to escape Communism and many died along the way. Checkpoint Charlie, doubtlessly the most famous border control point at the Berlin Wall, reported 1393 people that died trying to cross the border within the years of 1945-1989. It is an exceptional and unprecedented case in the Western world, where people of essentially the same nation, have been shot, killed by explosions or simply disappeared through the STASI, trying to cross a more or less symbolic border between fundamentally different politic systems THE AUTHOR Otto von Gehr was born in a small, countryside town in North-East Germany. Besides his obligatory job, he focused on a wide range of martial arts such as Judo and Sambo Combat. After his successful escape to the West, he has now returned to his region. Today Otto is an active mixed martial arts teacher as well as being engaged as a violence prevention coach. He owns and operates his own sports clothing label and further entrepreneurial projects that provide him with a tight and busy schedule. “The Wave of Fear” is his first book.