24 September 1961 · Window jumps
Evacuation-squad member jumps from Bernauer Straße 6
A doctoral candidate who had been sent with a militia unit to clear the border houses used a moment when a guard stepped away to jump from a first-floor balcony door into the West.
In the summer of 1961 Heinz V. was close to finishing his doctorate at the Humboldt University in East Berlin. He had joined the SED while studying but had come into conflict with the party line, and after the Wall was built he decided to flee.
As a member of the combat group (Kampfgruppe) of the Academy of Sciences, he was ordered on 24 September 1961 to help clear the border houses on Bernauer Straße. When a guard moved away from a balcony door for a moment, he jumped from the first floor of Bernauer Straße 6.
He was seriously injured and spent several weeks in hospital, but he had reached West Berlin.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer, Bereich B: Ereignismarken (B 341)Stiftung Berliner Mauer
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