Berlin Wall Escapes1961–1989

August 1961 · Guards who fled · Glienicker Brücke and Klein Glienicke

Peter Mindorf flees from his post in Klein Glienicke

An Oberwachtmeister of the Potsdam riot-police training unit, on guard in Klein Glienicke, used a toilet break to flee with his submachine gun and 80 rounds.

Colour photo: through bare trees in a wood, a grey concrete wall and fence cut across the view; behind them a village street with houses and a parked car.
The Wall around Klein Glienicke, looking into the Tannenstraße from the West Berlin side (Böttcherberg), April 1988 Photo: Roehrensee. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Oberwachtmeister Peter Mindorf of the 3rd company of the Potsdam training unit (Lehrbereitschaft) of the Bereitschaftspolizei did guard duty with Border Police (DGP) men in Klein Glienicke.

The Stasi situation report of 24 August 1961 records that he used a toilet break to flee. He took his submachine gun and 80 rounds of ammunition. His notebook was found near the border, and from it the Stasi concluded that he had deserted.

In unpublished memoirs quoted by the editors of the Stasi report edition, Mindorf said the idea came from his unit's political officer. Two border guards had fled together the day before, and the officer asked Mindorf for a written statement branding them traitors to the workers' and peasants' state. He wrote it as expected, but the request set him thinking. He had seen his police service mostly as sport – he boxed in Rudolstadt and became a trainer in Potsdam – while the political pressure kept growing. He said he never thought about how dangerous the escape was.

Sources

GDR records

Facts checked against the sources: September 2026

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Berlin Experiences, “Peter Mindorf flees from his post in Klein Glienicke”, Berlin Wall Escapes, 2026, https://berlinwallescapes.com/escapes/peter-mindorf-klein-glienicke-1961/ (accessed [date]).

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