Peter Fechter, Age 18, Shot Dead, Berlin Wall, Aug. 17, 1962
Chris Gueffroy, Age 20, Shot Dead, Berlin Wall, Feb. 6, 1989
In the years between the murders of these two men, hundreds, some say thousands of others - no one is really sure how many - joined them. Their one quest - reach freedom on the other side of a barrier.
On one side of the barrier, an act of heroism. On the other side, an act of treason.
Today, U2 will play a concert; pols will make speeches; artists will use government funds on installations teaching us what it's really all about; the putative leader of the free world will not show up; idiots will think everything was better before; and American high school students will ask, "What wall?"
Read some of the Names. Just read the Names.
Rudolf Urban, age 47, August 19,1961 Injured while escaping, later died
Günter Litfin, 24, August 22, 1961 Shot swimming across Humboldt Harbor
Ida Siekmann, 58 August 22, 1961 Leaped from fourth-floor apartment
Unknown Male, August 29,1961 Shot swimming across Teltow Canal
Axel Brückner, 25, September 3, 1961 Shot
Olga Segler, 80, September 25, 1961 Died from injuries suffered after jumping to a rescue net from a third-floor apartment
Bernd Lünser, 22, October 4, 1961 Shot while trying to escape on a clothesline strung across the wall. Jumped to his death
Unknown Male, October 4, 1961 Beaten to death on roof, presumed to be accomplice of Bernd Lünser
Udo Düllick, 24, October 5,1961 Drowned after being shot while swimming across Spree River
Unknown Male, October 5, 1961 Shot trying to swim across Spree River
Unknown Male, October 13, 1961 Shot escaping on a freight train
Werner Probst, 25, October 14, 1961 Shot swimming across Spree River
Unknown Male, October 18, 1961 Shot escaping on a freight train
Unknown Male, October 27, 1961 Shot while crossing barbed wire
Unknown Male, October 31, 1961 Shot
Unknown Male, November 17, 1961 Drowned in Spree River
Lothar Lehmann, 20, November 17, 1961 Drowned in Havel River
Dieter Wohlfahrt, December 6, 1961 Shot
Ingo Krüger, 21, December 10, 1961 Drowned in Spree River
Dorit Schmiel, 20, February 19, 1962 Shot
Heinze Jercha, 27, March 27,1962 Shot while trying to help others escape by tunnel
Philipp Held, 20, April 11, 1962 Drowned in Spree River
Klaus Brüske, 23, April 18, 1962 Shot trying to escape in a truck
Peter Böhme, 19, April 18, 1962 Shot
Horst Frank, 20, April 29, 1962 Shot
Lutz Hablerland, 24, May 27, 1962 Shot
Axel Hannemann, 17, June 5, 1962 Shot while trying to swim across Spree River
Erna Kelm, 54, June 11, 1962 Drowned in Havel River
Unknown Male, June 22, 1962 Shot
Siegfried Noffke, 22, June 28, 1962 Shot in attempt to rescue his family by tunnel
Unknown Male, July 29, 1962 Shot
Peter Fechter, 18, August 17, 1962 Shot. Left to bleed to death by East German border guards
Hans-Dieter Wesa, 19, August 23, 1962 Shot
Ernst Mundt, 41, September 4, 1962 Shot while climbing over the wall
Unknown Male, October 8, 1962 Shot trying to cross Spree River
Ottfried Reck, 18, Late November, 1962 Shot
Unknown Male, Late November, 1962 Shot
Two Unknown Males, December 6, 1962 Shot and drowned after falling through the ice on Griebnitz Lake
Hans Raewal, 21, January 1, 1963 Shot and drowned swimming across Spree River
Horst Kutscher, 32, January 15, 1963 Shot
Peter Kreitloff, 20, January 23, 1963 Shot
Unknown Male, January, 1963 Shot by Soviet Military patrol
Wolf-Olaf Muszynski, 16, April 1, 1963 Found dead in Spree River
Unknown Male, April 16, 1963 Drowned trying to cross the Teltow Canal
Unknown Person, April 16, 1963 Drowned in Spree River
Unknown Male, April 26, 1963 Shot trying to cross Teltow Canal
Klaus Schroeter, 23, November 4, 1963 Shot swimming across Spree River
Dietmar Schutz, 24, November 26, 1963 Shot
Dieter Berger, 24, December 13, 1963 Shot
Paul Schultz, 18, December 25, 1963 Shot
Adolf Philipp, 20, May 5, 1964 Shot
Unknown Male, June 22, 1964 Shot
Hans-Joachim Wolf, 17, Nov. 26, 1964 Shot swimming across Britzer Zweig Canal
Unknown Male, January 19, 1965 Drowned in Spree River
Christian Buttkus, 21, March 4, 1965 Shot
Hermann Döbler, 42, June 15, 1965 Shot crossing Teltow Canal
Heinz Sokolowski, 47, November 25, 1965 Shot
Heinz Schöneberger, 27, Dec. 26, 1965 Shot when group attempt to escape by car failed. Three companions were arrested. Schöneberger was shot as he ran towards West Berlin. He made it but later died of his wounds
Willi Block, 32, February 7, 1966 Shot
Unknown Male, March 19, 1966 Shot
Michael Kollender, 21, April 25, 1966 Shot swimming Teltow Canal
Paul Stretz, 31, April 29, 1966 Shot
Heinz Schmidt, 46, April 29, 1966 Shot
Two Unknown Males, ages 10 & 14, 1966 Shot while attempting to escape. Due to the young ages East German authorities informed the parents one boy died of drowning and the other was struck by lightening. The bodies were then cremated. This dark secret was uncovered in 1997.
Max Willi Sahmland, 37, Jan. 27, 1967 Shot swimming Teltow Canal
Unknown Person. November 16, 1968 Killed in shoot-out while trying to escape
Werner Kuehl, 22, July 24, 1971 Shot
Horst Kullack, 23, January 1, 1972 Shot
Klaus Schulze, 19, March 7, 1972 Shot
Peter Kreitloff, 20, January 23, 1973 Shot
Manfred Gertzki, 30, April 27, 1973 Shot
Burkhard Niehring, 23, January 5, 1974 A border guard, Niehring was shot when he took another soldier hostage and tried to escape at Checkpoint Charlie
Marietta Jirkowski, 18, Nov 22, 1980 Shot
Lothar Freie, age unknown, June 4, 1982 Shot
Unknown Male, December 1, 1984 Shot
Name Withheld, November 21, 1986 Shot or killed in truck attempting to crash through border
Unknown Male, November 24, 1986 Shot
Lutz Schmidt, 28, February 12, 1987 Shot
Name Withheld, August 11, 1987 Shot (Death occurred in 1984 but was not made public for several years.)
Chris Gueffroy, 20, February 5, 1989 Shot
Winfried Freundenberg, 32, Mar. 3, 1989 Died in crash landing of homemade gas balloon
