What was it like to escape west Berlin?

Answer 1

Very few people were trying to escape West Berlin; West Berlin was part of democratic West Germany. Conversely, many East Germans were trying to flee to West Berlin in order to find freedom. There were some West Germans who wanted to defect to East Germany for spying purposes or because they had received lucrative offers from the East German government and, oftentimes, they simply walked up to the border and were taken in by East Germany; East Germany was not opposed to new people coming in, but about people leaving.

To read about fleeing East Berlin, please see this Related Question: What was it like to escape East Berlin?

Answer 2

Very few people emigrated from West Berlin, or West Germany, to East Germany. The few who did were first taken to the Ministry for State Security (Ministerium der Staatssicherheit, or "Stasi") and interviewed for information the East German government could use. They were then granted East German citizenship, issued a job and an apartment, and expected to live as East German citizens. There was a small difference if the person seeking asylum in East Germany was in the American or West German armies. After the Stasi was done with those guys, they'd pick up the phone, call the soldier's commanding officer and tell him to come get the guy. Those troops usually got five years at hard labor.