Erich Kühn (victim of the wall)
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Erich Kühn (born February 27, 1903 in Landsberg an der Warthe , † December 3, 1965 in Berlin ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . Members of the GDR border troops shot him while trying to escape.
Life
At the age of nine he came to Berlin. Since he had no professional training, he was employed as an unskilled worker in various positions. Until 1942 he came into conflict with the law several times for theft and forgery of documents and was imprisoned. In the post-war period, he was noticed by the authorities with black market activities. In 1953 he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl who he became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. After his release from prison, he separated from his second wife in 1960 and remarried. This third marriage ended in divorce in 1964. Professionally, he continued to be employed in temporary jobs, including as a cross-border commuter until the Wall was built. He spent part of the month before his escape attempt in the mental institution of an East Berlin hospital. Documents found in his home revealed that he was in debt and that he had been fired from his last job.
On November 26, 1965, he went to Kiefholzstrasse in Berlin-Treptow to flee to West Berlin over the disused S-Bahn tracks between the Treptower Park and Sonnenallee stops . He was sneaking west along the embankment when a noise attracted the attention of two border guards. Because of the darkness, they could not see anything and, after telephone reassurance with their superior, shot into the bushes with the AK-47 service weapon . They hit the fugitive in the stomach. Taken to the People's Police Hospital , he died eight days later of peritonitis .
The shooter, his post leader and the superior were sentenced in 1995 by the Berlin Regional Court to youth and imprisonment terms of one year each, which were suspended on probation.
Web links
- Portrait of Erich Kühn at chronik-der-mauer.de
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bold, Erich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 27, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Landsberg on the Warta |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 3, 1965 |
| Place of death | Berlin |