Heinz Jercha
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Heinz Jercha (born July 1, 1934 in Berlin ; † March 27, 1962 West Berlin ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . The escape helper was shot at an escape tunnel in East Berlin by members of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) and died in the western part of Berlin.
Life
Heinz Jercha was a butcher by profession and lived with his wife and their child in West Berlin. He was a refugee from East Berlin.
Since the beginning of 1962 Jercha has been involved in an escape aid group in Neukölln . They built an escape tunnel on Heidelberger Strasse, where the Wall ran, from property No. 35 in West Berlin to the property opposite at 75 in the East Berlin district of Treptow . In the group were also Harry Seidel and Jerchas former colleague Fritz Wagner active, who took unlike Seidel for the escape aid money from the refugees. The first escapes came on March 21, 1962. Seidel and Jercha had the task of picking up GDR citizens who were willing to flee from house no. 75 every evening. They were armed. Jercha and Seidel also used the tunnel behind Wagner's back for students to escape.
A resident of house no. 75 was an unofficial employee (IM) of the MfS under the code name "Naumann" . He betrayed the tunnel and gained Seidel's confidence. The MfS then developed the plan to arrest Seidel red-handed in “Naumann's” apartment and to close the tunnel. Since March 24th, MfS commands have been on site. On March 27, Jercha went through the tunnel to the east in order to first help an elderly couple to escape together with Seidel. The intended arrest did not take place. When the two of them arrived for the second time in East Berlin, the arrest squad had received an order for operations, including the option to use armed force. When Jercha went into the hall to pick up the refugees, he met the command there and fled. The employees of the MfS opened fire. Jercha was from a stray bullet hit in the chest, but escaped with Seidel through the tunnel into the house no. 35. There Jercha succumbed to his injuries.
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After Dieter Wohlfahrt , he was the second escape helper to die at the wall. His death led to protests in West Berlin. Representatives of the Berlin Senate , the West Berlin districts and the federal government were present at his funeral . His surviving dependents received a war survivor's pension. After German reunification , four former MfS employees were identified as shooters. There was no charge of manslaughter because Heinz Jercha had crossed the border to East Berlin illegally and armed. The case is closed.
Jercha's gunman shot another escape helper in October 1962 and seriously injured him.
literature
- Christine Brecht : Heinz Jercha , in: The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989 , Links, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-517-1 , pp. 73–75.
See also
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jercha, Heinz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 1, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 27, 1962 |
| Place of death | Berlin |