23 October 1961 · Guards who fled
Border policeman Lutz M. jumps from Bernauer Straße 2
A border policeman who found the prospect of shooting at refugees unbearable slipped away from his post, broke into an evacuated flat at Bernauer Straße 2 and jumped to the western pavement.
Border policeman Lutz M. was serving with another policeman at Ackerstraße in autumn 1961. In the days before his escape he had already made contact with West Berlin police officers while on duty.
On 23 October 1961, under a pretext, he left his partner. At about 9 p.m. he broke into an already cleared first-floor flat at Bernauer Straße 2 and jumped down onto the pavement, which belonged to West Berlin.
West Berlin police were waiting for him and took him away in a patrol car. According to the Berlin Wall Memorial, his decision had matured over a long time: two friends from his unit had already deserted, and he found border duty and the expectation of shooting at refugees unbearable.
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