17 August 1961 · Driving through
Three young men crash a truck through the new wall at Ruppiner Straße
Late on 17 August 1961 three young men drove a truck through the freshly completed wall; the guards fired, but no one was hurt.
Late in the evening of 17 August 1961 three young men escaped at Ruppiner Straße by driving a truck through the wall that had only just been completed there.
The guards opened fire at once but did not hit them. According to the memorial, it was the fourth time since 13 August that shots had been fired at escapees in Berlin.
Several submachine-gun bullets struck the West Berlin side, one of them in a resident's bedroom.
Sources
- Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer – Bereich D: Alltag an der Mauer (Orientierungsplan und Ereignismarken), marker D 423Stiftung Berliner Mauer
- D 423 – Digital Guide, Berlin Wall MemorialStiftung Berliner Mauer
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