13 October 1974 · Over the wall
Felled by a single aimed shot opposite Neukölln
On a Sunday afternoon in October 1974 West Berlin police watched a young man approach the Wall opposite Neukölln. An East German guard knelt and brought him down with one aimed shot; he was carried away, apparently wounded.
At about 3.45 p.m. on 13 October 1974 West Berlin police saw an unidentified young man approach the Wall opposite the Neukölln district in the American sector, apparently trying to escape.
Several East German border guards rushed to the spot. One of them knelt and felled the young man with a single aimed shot. The guards then carried him away; to the observers he appeared to be wounded.
The same day the US Mission issued a statement in which the US commandant, together with the French and British commandants, deplored 'this inhumane use of armed force in the heart of Berlin' and said such callous disregard for life worked against international efforts to reduce tension in Europe.
The telegram gives neither the man's name nor his fate after he was carried off.
Sources
Whose account is this? Drawn from a Western official record and a press report.
Western official records
- Incident at Wall (telegram 1974BERLIN01841, 14 October 1974)US National Archives, Access to Archival Databases (Central Foreign Policy Files, RG 59)
Press
- 'Escape bid' (brief printed under 'State housing run by new corporation', 15 October 1974)Press (Christchurch), via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand)
Facts checked against the sources: November 2026
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Cite this page
Berlin Experiences, “Felled by a single aimed shot opposite Neukölln”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/neukoelln-sector-border-aimed-shot-1974/ (accessed [date]).
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