Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

18 April 1962 · Guards who fled

Deserting cadets' gunfight at Griebnitzsee

Two armed NVA officer cadets tried to desert to West Berlin across disused S-Bahn land at Griebnitzsee; in the exchange of fire border guard Jörgen Schmidtchen and cadet Peter Böhme were killed, while Wolfgang G. reached the West.

A railway signal beside the tracks, with the Berlin Wall running alongside the line
The S-Bahn entry signal and the Berlin Wall at Griebnitzsee, 30 May 1983 Photo: Harald Knauer. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

In the night of 17 to 18 April 1962 two cadets from an NVA officers' school, 19-year-old Peter Böhme and his comrade Wolfgang G., set out armed and in uniform to flee from Potsdam to West Berlin. The border units had been warned that two armed deserters were on the move.

Border guard Jörgen Schmidtchen, aged 20, and soldier R. had begun their shift at 1 a.m. on the disused S-Bahn grounds of the Griebnitzsee track triangle, on the border between Potsdam-Babelsberg and the West Berlin settlement of Kohlhasenbrück.

A line of markers along a path showing where the Wall once ran beside a lake
Memorial markers tracing the former course of the Berlin Wall at Griebnitzsee (2013) Photo: Lichterfelder. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

At about 2:30 a.m. they heard noises and went to check. As Schmidtchen approached, apparently unsuspecting, Böhme opened fire and fatally wounded him. Soldier R. fired back and mortally wounded Böhme.

Wolfgang G. was unhurt and made it to West Berlin. According to the Chronik der Mauer, he later said: "It was horrible. But we had no other choice. It was us or them."

Sources

  1. Schmidtchen, JörgenChronik der Mauer

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