Kristina Berster Papers

Kristina Berster was born in West Germany in 1950(?). She studied Psychology at the University of Heidelberg in 1970. In 1971, she was arrested for associating with known terrorists and held for six months. A trial date for this charge was set for March, 1973. Kristina Berster left W. Germany in self-imposed exile and, from 1973-1978, she moved around Europe and then worked with the Red Cross in South Yemen. She traveled to Quebec, Canada, from where she crossed the border into Vermont in the spring of 1978.

July 16, 1978, Kristina Berster was arrested in Alburg, VT, and charged with illegal entry into the U.S. The trial was set for October 3, 1978, in Burlington, VT. February 7, 1979, Judge Albert Coffrin sentenced her to serve nine months in prison; however, she had only sixteen days left to serve in that sentence.

W. Germany requested the extradition of Kristina Berster, who applied to the U.S. State Department for political asylum, and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service began deportation proceedings. Berster was moved to New York City to wait for the decision of her asylum/deportation hearings and her request for release on bail was denied. W. Germany then dropped their extradition request and offered Berster leniency if she returned voluntarily. Kristina Berster returned to W. Germany on October 31, 1979, where she was released with the condition that she report periodically to authorities.