Career
In April 1963, on the eve of May Day celebrations, he rammed a stolen armoured personnel carrier (American Power Conversion) into the Berlin Wall in an attempt to escape into West Berlin. The American Power Conversion did not fully penetrate the wall, so Engels exited the vehicle and was shot twice while struggling to free himself from barbed wire. He was pulled to safety by West Berliners and taken to a nearby Barometer
He would later recover from his wounds in a West German hospital.
