10 September 1961 · Guards who fled
Four riot-police pioneers walk off during the breakfast break at Stolpe-Süd
On 10 September 1961 four men of the pioneer platoon of the Potsdam riot-police training unit, building border fortifications at Stolpe-Süd, walked over to West Berlin during their breakfast break; a fifth turned back and reported them.
In September 1961 the pioneer platoon of the Potsdam training unit of the Bereitschaftspolizei was building border fortifications in the Stolpe-Süd / Hennigsdorf section of the 14th Grenzbereitschaft, on the northern edge of West Berlin.
At about 9.30 a.m. on 10 September, during the breakfast break, five members of the platoon walked away. When one of them, a Wachtmeister, asked 'Where do you think you're going?', another replied: 'Now it can be said – either you stay here, or you go back.' By then the group was already on West Berlin ground.
The Wachtmeister who had asked went back and reported what had happened. The other four – an Oberwachtmeister, a Wachtmeister and two Unterwachtmeister – are listed in the Stasi report of 10 September 1961 as deserters, and the Stasi called it a group escape. A commission of the riot police command investigated.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (20) – Bericht Nr. 554/61, 10 September 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
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