Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Escapes
There are no exact numbers, but it is believed that of the nearly 100,000 GDR citizens who
tried to escape, hundreds died in the process, many by drowning, suffering fatal accidents or
committing suicide when caught. More than 100 were shot and killed by border guards - the
first only a few days after 13 August 1961. Guards who prevented an escape were rewarded
with commendations, promotions and bonuses.
The first person to be shot at the Wall was 24-year-old trained tailor Günter Litfin. The
Wall had been in existence for only 11 days when a hailstorm of bullets ripped through his
body as he tried to swim to freedom across a 40m-wide canal on 24 August 1961, a Sunday.
Since 2003, his brother Jürgen Litfin has kept Günter's legacy alive with a
memorial exhib-
tours half-hourly 11.30am-1.30pm Sun-Thu Mar-Oct; 120, Naturkundemuseum) in
a GDR watchtower near where he was killed. It's a bit off the beaten path but well worth
swinging by not only to see the inside of this rare border relic but mainly for a chance to
meet this outspoken eyewitness to history.
Another famous incident illustrating the barbarity of the shoot-to-kill order occurred on
17 August 1962 when 18-year-old would-be escapee Peter Fechter was shot and wounded
and then left to bleed to death as East German guards looked on. There's a
memorial
(
GOOGLE MAP
) in his honour on Zimmerstrasse, near Checkpoint Charlie. Behind the Reich-
