Seventeen-year-old Peter Fechter was shot while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall on August 17, 1962. Guards left him lying in the Death Strip for almost an hour while he bled to death.
Many thanks to Frank Klawonn for sending me Peter's burial information, as well as his date of birth and a link to his funeral program!∼(Memorial)
He was a bricklayer from East Berlin, who at the age of 18 became one of the first of the victims of the Berlin Wall.
About one year after the construction of the wall, Fechter attempted to flee from the GDR (German Democratic Republic) together with his friend Helmut Kulbeik. The plan was to hide in a carpenter's workshop near the wall and, after observing the border guards from there, to jump out of a window into the so-called death-strip (a strip running between the main wall and a parallel fence which they had recently started to construct), run across it and climb over the wall near Checkpoint Charlie into the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin.
However, while they were on the wall, shots were fired, and although Kulbeik succeeded in crossing the wall, Fechter was shot in the pelvis while still on the wall, in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the Eastern side, where he lay, still in view of Western onlookers including journalists. Despite his screams, he received no medical assistance either from the East or the West side. He bled to death after about an hour. Hundreds in West Berlin formed a spontaneous demonstration, shouting "murderers" at the border guards.
In March 1997 two former East German guards, Rolf Friedrich and Erich Schreiber, faced manslaughter charges for Fechter's death, at which they admitted to his shooting. They were both convicted, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment on probation.
Cause of death: Gunshot wound.
Many thanks to Frank Klawonn for sending me Peter's burial information, as well as his date of birth and a link to his funeral program!∼(Memorial)
He was a bricklayer from East Berlin, who at the age of 18 became one of the first of the victims of the Berlin Wall.
About one year after the construction of the wall, Fechter attempted to flee from the GDR (German Democratic Republic) together with his friend Helmut Kulbeik. The plan was to hide in a carpenter's workshop near the wall and, after observing the border guards from there, to jump out of a window into the so-called death-strip (a strip running between the main wall and a parallel fence which they had recently started to construct), run across it and climb over the wall near Checkpoint Charlie into the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin.
However, while they were on the wall, shots were fired, and although Kulbeik succeeded in crossing the wall, Fechter was shot in the pelvis while still on the wall, in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the Eastern side, where he lay, still in view of Western onlookers including journalists. Despite his screams, he received no medical assistance either from the East or the West side. He bled to death after about an hour. Hundreds in West Berlin formed a spontaneous demonstration, shouting "murderers" at the border guards.
In March 1997 two former East German guards, Rolf Friedrich and Erich Schreiber, faced manslaughter charges for Fechter's death, at which they admitted to his shooting. They were both convicted, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment on probation.
Cause of death: Gunshot wound.
Seventeen-year-old Peter Fechter was shot while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall on August 17, 1962. Guards left him lying in the Death Strip for almost an hour while he bled to death.
Many thanks to Frank Klawonn for sending me Peter's burial information, as well as his date of birth and a link to his funeral program!∼(Memorial)
He was a bricklayer from East Berlin, who at the age of 18 became one of the first of the victims of the Berlin Wall.
About one year after the construction of the wall, Fechter attempted to flee from the GDR (German Democratic Republic) together with his friend Helmut Kulbeik. The plan was to hide in a carpenter's workshop near the wall and, after observing the border guards from there, to jump out of a window into the so-called death-strip (a strip running between the main wall and a parallel fence which they had recently started to construct), run across it and climb over the wall near Checkpoint Charlie into the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin.
However, while they were on the wall, shots were fired, and although Kulbeik succeeded in crossing the wall, Fechter was shot in the pelvis while still on the wall, in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the Eastern side, where he lay, still in view of Western onlookers including journalists. Despite his screams, he received no medical assistance either from the East or the West side. He bled to death after about an hour. Hundreds in West Berlin formed a spontaneous demonstration, shouting "murderers" at the border guards.
In March 1997 two former East German guards, Rolf Friedrich and Erich Schreiber, faced manslaughter charges for Fechter's death, at which they admitted to his shooting. They were both convicted, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment on probation.
Cause of death: Gunshot wound.
Many thanks to Frank Klawonn for sending me Peter's burial information, as well as his date of birth and a link to his funeral program!∼(Memorial)
He was a bricklayer from East Berlin, who at the age of 18 became one of the first of the victims of the Berlin Wall.
About one year after the construction of the wall, Fechter attempted to flee from the GDR (German Democratic Republic) together with his friend Helmut Kulbeik. The plan was to hide in a carpenter's workshop near the wall and, after observing the border guards from there, to jump out of a window into the so-called death-strip (a strip running between the main wall and a parallel fence which they had recently started to construct), run across it and climb over the wall near Checkpoint Charlie into the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin.
However, while they were on the wall, shots were fired, and although Kulbeik succeeded in crossing the wall, Fechter was shot in the pelvis while still on the wall, in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the Eastern side, where he lay, still in view of Western onlookers including journalists. Despite his screams, he received no medical assistance either from the East or the West side. He bled to death after about an hour. Hundreds in West Berlin formed a spontaneous demonstration, shouting "murderers" at the border guards.
In March 1997 two former East German guards, Rolf Friedrich and Erich Schreiber, faced manslaughter charges for Fechter's death, at which they admitted to his shooting. They were both convicted, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment on probation.
Cause of death: Gunshot wound.
