Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

23 August 1962 · Guards who fled

Hans-Dieter Wesa shot at Bornholmer Straße station

Transport policeman Hans-Dieter Wesa, 19, climbed the border fence at the closed Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station and was shot dead by his post partner after he had already reached West Berlin territory.

A railway cutting with tracks, a concrete wall alongside, and a steel road bridge crossing overhead
The railway corridor with the Berlin Wall, the Bösebrücke and Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn station, June 1988 Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Hans-Dieter Wesa, born in 1943, had enlisted in the Transportpolizei in 1960 and was transferred to border duty in Berlin in April 1962. On 23 August 1962 he was guarding the S-Bahn station Bornholmer Straße, a closed station under the Bösebrücke on the line between Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding, together with 18-year-old Adolf B.

At about 8:15 p.m., on the pretext of switching on the lights, Wesa climbed over the border fence. His partner pursued him and opened fire. A first bullet hit Wesa in the thigh and he fell; B. then went up to the fence and killed him at close range with shots to the face and torso.

Photograph of the Bornholmer Straße border area with soldiers, the steel bridge and the S-Bahn station
Border troops at the Bornholmer Straße crossing and S-Bahn station, photographed from the East in 1982 Photo: Gerd Danigel, gerddanigel.de.. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

According to the Chronik der Mauer, Wesa was already on West Berlin territory when he was killed. The West Berlin police chief filed charges, Mayor Willy Brandt and Senator Klaus Schütz came to the scene that evening, and a memorial cross was put up at Bornholmer Straße.

Adolf B. was charged with manslaughter in 1994 but took his own life in September 1994, before the trial.

Sources

  1. Wesa, Hans-DieterChronik der Mauer

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