times to border on friendship, was quickly established. In 1984 hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied East Germans had for years had their names on the waiting list for exit visas which might at some stage be issued in the context of the "Häftlingsfreikauf" programme. In January that years six student dissidents made their way into the American embassy in East Berlin and announced that they would start a hunger strike which would last until they were released to the west. The ambassador was away in Washington and embassy staff had no idea what to do. Some days later they contacted the East German "Häftlingsfreikauf" negotiator who cut short his ski holiday and made his way to the embassy building in East Berlin, where the six defiant hunger strikers were confined, unable to shave or wash, in a room that was becoming notably fetid. He persuaded them to leave the building by promising that their case would be considered by the responsible government agencies during the next few weeks. He then left to telephone Heinz Volpert, the responsible Ministry for State Security (Stasi) officer, to discuss next steps. To his amazement, the Stasi had already received orders from on high that the six dissidents were to be delivered across the border into West Berlin that evening. With a diplomatic visit from the French foreign minister imminent, the leader simply wanted the matter to be concluded as quickly and quietly as possible. The implications of this ad hoc liberalisation for hundreds of thousands East Germans wishing to move west had apparently not been foreseen by Honecker. Nor had the potentially adverse impact on the cash payments from the west delivered by the "Häftlingsfreikauf" programme on which the cash-strapped East German government was becoming dependent. Wolfgang Vogel had known Erich Honecker for a long time, and was able to have his telephone call taken by the leader: "That could cause a chain reaction...", he began. But, as Vogel later recalled the conversation, he was cut short. "I don't think you've understood. I want them in West Berlin before midnight". Unsurprisingly, growing numbers of well-networked East German dissidents now began appearing at western embassies in East Berlin, and then also in neighbouring "socialist" states, demanding permission to "go west": a significant number had their demands accepted. Frequently, when these incidents occurred, it was Wolfgang Vogel who was summoned to attend the East Berlin embassy