The 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 5 to 19 August 1951 in Berlin, capital city of the then German Democratic Republic, and organised by World Federation of Democratic Youth.

The motto of the festival was "Peace and Friendship against Nuclear Weapons"[2][3] The third WFYS was held in a period of growing international tension between the Soviet Union and the western powers; it took place against the background of the Korean War and the spread of communism in Central Europe and China.

The festival was meant to showcase the young German Democratic Republic, formed in the Soviet sector of postwar Germany.

West German police and the US military tried to prevent international delegates from crossing the western sector of Germany to attend the festival.

In response, an operation was arranged to smuggle young people across the country in small groups.