Judgment in Berlin

In August 1978, the Iron Curtain still hung heavily across Europe. To escape from oppressive East Berlin, an East German couple, Hans Detlef Alexander Tiede and Ingrid Ruske, hijacked a Polish airliner and diverted it to the American sector of West Berlin. Along with the couple, several passengers spontaneously defected to the West, and were welcomed by US officials. But within hours, Communist officials reminded the West of the anti-hijacking agreements in the Warsaw Pact, and thus the fugitives were arrested by the US State Department.

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Stern was appointed to serve as United States District Judge in the District of New Jersey, serving from 1974- 1987. He served as the United States Judge for Berlin in 1979.

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Stern was the winner of the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge George Washington Honor Medal for Excellence in the category of books in 1984 for his book "Judgment in Berlin;" Skyhorse Publishing, and was played in the film version by Martin Sheen.