Personal Stories of the Wall

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The Berlin Wall 28 years ? deaths 96 miles 302 Watchtowers 5000 successful escapes

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NAME Peter Fechter Date of birth January 14th, 1944 Place of birth Berlin Job Bricklayer Escape attempt August 17th, 1962

Peter Fechter : 

Peter Fechter On August 17th, 1962, East German Peter Fechter and Helmut Kulbeik attempted to flee the German Democratic Republic. They hid in a carpenter’s workshop on Zimmerstrasse to observe the border guards. The plan was to jump out of a first floor window into the so-called death strip, run across it and climb over the 6.5ft tall wall into the Kreuzberg district.

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When Peter Fechter and Helmut Kulbeik reached the wall, GDR Border guards started shooting at them. 21 bullets were shot, several of them hitting Peter Fechter, who fell back in the « death strip ». Despite his screams, neither side provided him with medical assistance.

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West Berliners formed a spontaneous protest, shouting « Murderers » at border guards. They were prevented from rescuing him at gunpoint. Both sides stood by without interviening. Peter Fechter bled out in a hour. His body was retrieved by East German border guards. Two former East-German border guards were put on trial and faced manslaughter charges in March 1997. They were found guilty. The wooden cross memorial was replaced by a stele on August 13th, 1999.

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NAME Conrad Schuman Date of birth March 28th, 1944 Place of birth Leutewitz, Saxony Job Border Guard Escape attempt August 15th, 1961

Conrad Schumann : 

Conrad Schumann On August 16th 1961, 19 year-old soldier Conrad Schumann was patrolling the border between East and West Germany. The Wall at that time was just being built, and the section he monitored was just barbed wire. A crowd from the West was gathering watching to see the wall being built, they saw Schumann and yelled at him to jump the fence.

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As Schumann said, « My nerves were at a breaking point, I was very afraid. I took off, jumped, and into the car… in three four seconds it was over ». As Schumann leaped over the fence with an empty rifle being tossed behind him an ambitious photographer, Peter Leibing was there to take the picture that became an emblem of the cold war. To the west he was a hero to the East, a traitor.

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He settled in Bavaria, married, and worked in the Audi factory However, he felt that he was neither a citizen of the West or the East, he attempted to return to the East during the war, but was convinced by a friend that it would be suicide - After the War he went back to Saxony here he was treated with disdain as a traitor and deserter - Perhaps this lack of isolation and sense of confused identity contribute to his suicide in 1998

Reunion : 

Reunion For both East and West Germans, the fall of the wall was an experience of heightened, often overwhelming emotions—often of both joy and genuine curiosity. Newspaper articles and interviews dating to this period document the circumstances that had seemed so unimaginable for those on both sides of this highly psychological barrier.

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The historical record is full of stories such as that of Hans Schmalfeld, an East German who woke his sons Gregor and Robert at 3:45 am so that they could take their first trip into West Berlin after such travel was permitted. Even simply being present in West Berlin was a remarkable moment for the family: ''Gregor is taking a nap in West Berlin,'' said Hans Schmalfeld. ''It's unfathomable. If you had told me that one week ago, I wouldn't have believed it. Mentally, I still can't. It will take a few days before what this means sinks in.''

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But many East German families were eager to explore the seemingly exotic capitalist landscape of the West, browsing bountiful department stores and purchasing newly available goods with the 100 marks of goodwill money provided by the West German government to new visitors.  ''There it is,'' commented Mr. Schmalfeld, upon seeing the once-familiar facade of the landmark KaDeWe department store. ''I haven't seen it since 1961. The last time I was here was the day before the wall went up. Then, overnight, all this was gone for us.'‘ - So many East Germans thronged across the border to take part in the daily shopping rituals Westerners had taken for granted that the city’s public transit systems were overwhelmed across the board.

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Special thanks to the Mauermuseum am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin. Sources : Time Magazine New York Times KaDeWe Peter Leibing Germany.info Youtube world-flags-symbols.com Emeline Azambre,Sam Biddle, Margot Johnson.