16 September 1973 · Over the wall
Guards fire on two men at the Wall a day after another arrest
Early on 16 September 1973 East German guards foiled an attempt by two men to cross the Wall, firing at least four shots; the day before, guards had arrested another man trying to escape.
Early on 16 September 1973 East German border guards foiled an attempt by two men to escape across the Berlin Wall, firing at least four shots at them, the West Berlin police reported. Neither man seemed to be injured.
The day before, on 15 September, East German guards had arrested another man who was also trying to escape across the Wall to West Berlin. The report gives no names or places.
Sources
- Berlin Escape Bid Stopped (17 September 1973)The New York Times (Reuters)
Spotted an error, or know more about this story? Email us a correction or addition
Related escapes
27 April 1973
Manfred Gertzki's armoured escape attempt at the Reichstag
Wearing a home-made bulletproof vest and a steel-masked helmet, engineer Manfred Gertzki crept along the Spree bank by the Reichstag. He was shot two metres from the demarcation line and pushed into the river, where the armour dragged him down.
8 July 1973
Three East Germans stopped by machine-pistol fire opposite the Märkisches Viertel
Just after détente had been celebrated in Helsinki, border guards stopped three East Germans at the Wall facing the Märkisches Viertel with several machine-pistol bursts and arrested them; angry West Berlin residents tore out a fence patching a hole in the Wall and set tyres on fire.
20 July 1973 – 21 July 1973
Klaus Gomert at the Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark – shot at, arrested, then expelled to the West
In the night of 19–20 July 1973 East Berlin border guards fired bursts at a person presumably trying to escape by the Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. On 21 July East Berlin police released 18-year-old Klaus Gomert to West Berlin, and ADN claimed he was the would-be escaper – Gomert contradicted parts of the East German account.
25 September 1973
Thirty rounds at four escapers opposite Kohlhasenbrück
On the evening of 25 September 1973 East German border guards fired about thirty rounds at four people apparently trying to cross into the American sector opposite Kohlhasenbrück. The four were led away; several bullets hit apartments on the West Berlin side.