Helmut P. is shot at but gets over the cemetery wall
Helmut P. chose the Sophien cemetery for its cover; two guards at Ackerstraße fired as he pulled himself up the wall, but he got over, wounded.
Helmut P. tried to reach the West through the Sophien cemetery because the graves and trees there gave him cover.
Two border soldiers posted at Ackerstraße saw him just as he was pulling himself up the cemetery wall. They shouted at him to stop and then both fired.
He still managed to get over. Blood was later found on the wall and on items of clothing he had left behind, and according to the West Berlin police he had been wounded by the guards' shots.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich A: Die Mauer und der Todesstreifen (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker A 318Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- A 318 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
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