15-month-old Holger H. suffocates during his parents' escape

Little is known about Ingrid and Klaus H. They had met on a youth trip to Moscow and were certain they did not want to spend their lives, or raise their son, in the GDR. Klaus H. had tried to flee across the Baltic with friends at 17 and had been branded a 'Republikflüchtling' ever since, which limited his career.

One January night in 1973 a truck belonging to a West Berlin acquaintance stopped at a car park on the transit autobahn. The couple climbed onto the loading area with their 15-month-old son and hid in large crates declared as empties – the 23-year-old father in one, the 20-year-old mother and the child in another. The inspection at the Drewitz crossing took longer than usual, the driver later told West Berlin police.

When the baby began to cry, his mother tried in vain to calm him and, in her fear, held his mouth shut. Holger had a middle-ear infection and bronchitis and could not breathe through his nose.

The family passed the checkpoint undetected. After another 300 metres the crates were opened; at the western checkpoint Dreilinden Ingrid H. held out the motionless child to the helpers. All attempts at resuscitation failed. Holger H. is the youngest person counted among the victims of the Berlin Wall.