31 August 1961 · Guards who fled
A patrol leader at Schönwalde deserts with his carbine
On the morning of 31 August 1961 a 21-year-old Border Police lance corporal left his post near Schönwalde and went over to West Berlin with his carbine and 60 rounds.
The Stasi situation report of 31 August 1961 lists four desertions of Border Police and riot police men around Berlin in the period, bringing the total since 13 August to 74.
One of them was a lance corporal (Gefreiter) born in 1940, a member of the Border Police since May 1959 and a patrol leader in the 7th company at Schönwalde, part of the 14th Grenzbereitschaft at Groß Glienicke. From 9.45 a.m. on 31 August he was missing from his post, and he had taken his carbine and 60 rounds of ammunition with him.
The Stasi's first enquiries found that West Berlin police officers had twice tried to make contact with him before he left. The report counts him among the completed desertions to West Berlin.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1961: Lage nach dem Bau der Berliner Mauer (15) – Bericht Nr. 510/61, 31 August 1961Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (DDR im Blick)
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
August 1961
Peter Mindorf walks away from his post in Klein Glienicke
An Oberwachtmeister of the Potsdam riot-police training unit, on guard in Klein Glienicke, asked to go to the toilet and walked off to West Berlin with his submachine gun and 80 rounds.
August 1961
A border policeman steals patrol boat G-65 on the Havel
When the boatman stepped ashore for a moment, a young border policeman took the patrol boat – with a carbine, a machine pistol and a flare gun on board – and headed for West Berlin.
10 September 1961
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.
15 August 1961
Conrad Schumann's leap to freedom
Two days after the border was sealed, 19-year-old border policeman Conrad Schumann jumped over the barbed-wire barrier at Bernauer Straße into West Berlin, dropping his submachine gun as he went.
