Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

1 September 1961 · Over the wall

Three teenagers from Legebruch run for the border – one gets through

Shortly after midnight on 1 September 1961 three young people from Legebruch tried to break through at Hennigsdorf; guards fired 27 shots, arrested a girl and a boy, and the third youth reached West Berlin.

At about 0.10 a.m. on 1 September 1961 the border alarm went off in the Hennigsdorf section of the Groß Glienicke border unit, on the north-western edge of West Berlin.

During the operation the guards arrested a girl and a boy from Legebruch as they tried to break through to West Berlin. A third youth, also from Legebruch, made it across.

The guards fired 27 shots. The Stasi situation report written that day could not say whether the youth who escaped had been hit.

Sources

  1. Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (16) – Bericht Nr. 514/61, 1 September 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)

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