An off-duty lieutenant climbs out at Stolpe-Süd
A platoon leader of the border troops, born in 1946, went home after a dance, then climbed the Wall near his own home with a wooden ladder while his former comrades fired 20 shots.
The deserter was a lieutenant and platoon leader in the 2nd company of Border Regiment 38 at Hennigsdorf, who lived in Stolpe-Süd. His wife had died of cancer in April 1971, leaving him alone with a child.
On the evening of 3 July 1971 he went in civilian clothes to a dance at the club of the LEW 'Hans Beimler' works and returned home at about 1:30.
At 3:15 a signal device went off in the Stolpe-Süd section. From a watchtower about 250 m away, the guards saw a man hurrying across the control strip to the Wall, which he climbed with a wooden ladder he had brought. They fired 20 shots without hitting him, and he reached West Berlin unhurt.
The Stasi could not identify a motive, but assumed his wife's death had played a part.
Sources
- Jahrgang 1971: Fahnenflucht eines Leutnants nach WestberlinStasi-Unterlagen-Archiv (Die DDR im Blick der Stasi)
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