Hans Räwel
Hans Räwel (born December 11, 1941 in Stralsund , † January 1, 1963 in Berlin ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . Members of the GDR border troops shot him while trying to escape through the Spree near the Oberbaum Bridge .
Life
Hans Räwel grew up on Rügen and worked with his siblings in his parents' bakery as a child. In 1957, the parents took over a bakery in East Berlin. There he completed an apprenticeship as a baker after finishing school. Hans Räwel's siblings and father left the GDR before the Wall was built. He himself planned to move after completing his pastry apprenticeship.
Räwel spent New Year's Eve 1962 with a friend in a Treptow pub. The two of them parted ways around 4 a.m. Hans Räwel went near the Oberbaum Bridge and went into the water there to swim to the other bank. Around 6.15 a.m., GDR border guards discovered the fugitive on board a boat. With their boat they chased Räwel, who was swimming through between wooden stakes that were placed in the middle of the water to prevent a crossing. After a detour of 300 meters, caused by the row of stakes, the border boat approached the swimmer. The border guards fired several shots at him from close range. Hans Räwel was fatally wounded and sank. On the same morning, another refugee managed to cross the Spree not far from the place of death.
Two police officers from West Berlin witnessed the events from the bank. Feeling threatened, they shot the boat and met the skipper. This use of firearms sparked political irritation between the German states. In a press release, the GDR Ministry of Defense spoke of an assassination attempt on GDR border guards. The West considered the policemen's shots to be legitimate. In April 1994, the former border guards were found guilty of a wall rifle trial against the three-man crew of the border boat.
A cross facing the bank of the White Crosses Memorial on the bank of the Reichstag commemorates Hans Räwel.
literature
- Christine Brecht : Hans Räwel , in: The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989 , Links, Berlin 2009, pp. 123–125.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Räwel, Hans |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 11, 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stralsund |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 1, 1963 |
| Place of death | Berlin |