Dieter Wohlfahrt
Dieter Wohlfahrt (born May 27, 1941 in Berlin ; † December 9, 1961 ) was an escape helper and both the first person to be killed on the Berlin Wall without German citizenship and who lived in West Berlin .
Life
Dieter Wohlfahrt grew up in Hohen Neuendorf in the GDR. After moving to his aunt in West Berlin, he went to the Bertha-von-Suttner-Gymnasium in Reinickendorf . After graduating from high school, he studied chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin from 1961. He was an Austrian citizen through his father . Because of his nationality , Wohlfahrt was able to move freely between the two parts of the city, unlike West Berliners, who were mostly denied access to the GDR . Dieter Wohlfahrt used this freedom to help students escape . At first he helped with attempts to escape through the sewer system, until these were made impossible by blocking measures. He then started cutting holes in the border fence in remote locations.
assassination
On December 9, 1961, he and others cut a hole in a fence between Staaken and Spandau in order to help the mother of an acquaintance to escape as agreed. However, the mother had betrayed the plans to the GDR authorities. Wohlfahrt and his companions were ambushed by border guards from the GDR who shot at the group. Hit in the heart by a projectile , he remained in the border area for an hour without medical attention and died there from his injuries.
Commemoration
To commemorate Dieter Wohlfahrt, a wooden cross with a commemorative plaque and a photo of Dieter Wohlfahrt was set up in Berlin-Spandau directly on the wall on the northern Bergstrasse.
literature
- Christine Brecht : Dieter Wohlfahrt , in: The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989 , Links, Berlin 2009, pp. 60–63.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rainer Hildebrandt: "It happened on the wall." Berlin 2003, p. 96f
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Welfare, Dieter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian escape helper and first victim of the Berlin Wall without German citizenship |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 27, 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 9, 1961 |
| Place of death | Berlin |