An East German man about 30 years old was seenclimbing the fence to the embassy. A policeofficer hung on, exerting all his weight to bringthe climber down. Refugees inside the fence clungto the man and shouted for help.
A diplomat ran outside the fence and put hisarm around the refugee.
They walked away, ringed by police andreporters. A police officer pointed to an EastGerman handcuffed to a park bench. The diplomatarranged for the East German to be freed, then ledboth men into the embassy.
Refugees said Czechoslovak officers patrolledthe embassy area with dogs during the night, A26-year-old woman said she, her child and herhusband were dragged away from the embassy fenceduring the night, kicked and beaten by police.
Later, she said, three other police officershelped the family and showed them the way to themission's entrance, where they and others wereadmitted.
Some refugees said East Germans caught bypolice were detained, then released elsewhere.
Inside the embassy garden, studded with tentsthat sheltered those who left over the weekend,refugees got assistance for newcomers and helpedothers over the fence, witnesses reported.
More East Germans, however, were reportedcrossing the border from Czechoslovakia tocommunist Hungary and entering Austria fromHungary.
Hungary's official news agency, MTI, said 2880people entered Hungary from Czechoslovakia overthe weekend, most of them East Germans. It said 24people swam the Danube between Rajka and Esztergomto cross into Austria.
Newly arrived East Germans at the Giessen, WestGermany, refugee reception center said yesterdaythey had been prepared to stay indefinitely inBonn's mud-filled embassy in Prague rather thanreturn home.
"I would have never gone back to East Germany,this was it," said Heinz Schmidt, a railway workerfrom Magdeburg who spent eight days in a tent withhis wife and teen-age son.
He said the family never applied for permissionto emigrate legally because they were certainharassment would follow.
"You can lose your job... Once you apply, youwill be interrogated by the security police, andsoon you can drop out of sight," Schmidt said.
Lutz Gillert said he was demoted from chiefdoctor in a hospital near Magdeburg after applyingto leave five years ago and his son was rejectedwhen he tried to enter a university