25 August 1961 · Guards who fled
Put back on the front line against advice, a policeman deserts at Harzer Straße
At about 3 p.m. on 25 August 1961 a riot policeman deserted from a patrol at Harzer Straße and Onckenstraße. Three days earlier the Stasi had told his battalion commander to keep him out of the front line, but the commander had put him back there against his company commander's advice.
On 22 August 1961 a Stasi officer told the battalion commander, Hauptmann Jahn, not to use a certain Wachtmeister of the 2nd company of the 9th Bereitschaft in the front line any more, because he had left his unit without permission and been found drinking beer with a civilian in a pub. On the Stasi officer's instructions he was to be sent back to his home unit in Karl-Marx-Stadt.
On 25 August the commander nevertheless put him back on patrol duty in the front line, against the advice of the company commander and without the Stasi officer's knowledge. At about 3 p.m. the Wachtmeister deserted at Harzer Straße/Onckenstraße, according to the Stasi report of that day.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (9) – Bericht Nr. 486/61, 25. August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
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Related escapes
19 August 1961
Two policemen leave their carbines in Onckenstraße, then wave from a VW
Late on 19 August 1961 two riot policemen deserted from Onckenstraße in Treptow to West Berlin, leaving their carbines behind. Three days later they turned up at the Wiener Brücke in a Volkswagen and waved to a guard of their old unit.
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25 August 1961
Two unsworn policemen leave with their carbines between Dammweg and Karpfenteichstraße
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