Bernd B. is shot five metres from the Wall
Crawling in the shelter of the Reconciliation Church, Bernd B. got within five metres of the Wall before a guard fired a warning shot and then shot him as he tried to jump up.
In the night of 7 July 1968 Bernd B. tried to get over the Wall near the Reconciliation Church. He approached the border strip from the Elisabeth cemetery, got over the signal fence and the vehicle barrier, and crawled in the shelter of the church to within five metres of the Wall.
Only then did the sentry in the watchtower at Ackerstraße spot him. The guard called out and fired a warning shot; when Bernd B. tried to jump up at the Wall, the soldier fired to hit.
Badly wounded, he was dragged behind the church, out of sight of the West. After emergency surgery in the police hospital he was handed over to the State Security. The border soldiers involved received decorations or bonuses.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich B: Die Zerstörung der Stadt (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker B 334Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- B 334 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
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