Children Jörg Hartmann and Lothar Schleusener shot in Treptow
Ten-year-old Jörg Hartmann and 13-year-old Lothar Schleusener slipped into the border strip in Treptow after dark and were shot by border guards; the regime told their families false stories about how they had died.
On the evening of 14 March 1966, two boys, ten-year-old Jörg Hartmann and 13-year-old Lothar Schleusener, got into the border area on Kiefholzstraße in the East Berlin district of Treptow, near the 'Sorgenfrei' garden settlement, without being noticed. Jörg had left his grandmother's flat to buy bread rolls and reportedly wanted to see his father in West Berlin.
At about 7:15 p.m. a guard in an observation tower saw a shadow in an anti-vehicle trench. After warning shots, guards opened fire; the Chronik der Mauer records about forty bullets. Jörg Hartmann died immediately. Lothar Schleusener was taken to the People's Police Hospital in Berlin-Mitte and died there the same night.
The families were deceived. Jörg's grandmother was told he had drowned and had been recovered from a lake with propeller injuries; his body was cremated and buried anonymously before relatives were informed. Lothar's mother was told he had died of an electric shock in Espenhain near Leipzig, backed by a forged death certificate.
The truth came out in the 1990s, partly because the shots had been heard in neighbouring Neukölln. In November 1997 the Berlin district court convicted the former border soldier of manslaughter and sentenced him to twenty months on probation.
Sources
- Hartmann, JörgChronik der Mauer
- Schleusener, LotharChronik der Mauer
- Die Todesopfer an der Berliner Mauer 1961-1989 (Hertle/Nooke, 2017)Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam / Stiftung Berliner Mauer
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