Heinz Schöneberger

Heinz Schöneberger (born June 7, 1938 in Wagten ; † December 26, 1965 in Berlin ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . While trying to get two women in a car across the border crossing on Heinrich-Heine-Strasse, he was shot by members of the GDR border troops .

Life

Heinz Schöneberger was born in Wagten in East Prussia. After the Second World War, his family had to leave their home and settled in Seesen . After finishing school, he completed an apprenticeship as a civil engineering worker and then worked in various positions. In June 1961 he moved to the GDR with his wife , but left the GDR again before the Wall was built , which separated him from his wife. On October 17, 1961, on the way to West Germany, he left the transit highway and drove to Karl-Marx-Stadt to pick up his wife. Before he reached them, he was arrested and was imprisoned in the GDR until August 1, 1964 after a total of three convictions for so-called “ escape from the republic ”, mutiny and an attempted breakout. His wife divorced him during this time. Back in West Berlin, he had to serve a two-month prison sentence for driving without a license.

He then worked with his brother Horst on various construction sites in West Berlin. In their free time they drove to East Berlin, where they met Monika P. and Christel R., who wanted to flee to the West. The brothers decided to help them with this. On December 25, 1965, they drove to East Berlin in a Ford Taunus 17 M. There the women got on. While Monika P. was hiding in the backrest, Christel R. crawled under the front bench. They reached the border crossing on Heinrich-Heine-Strasse at around 0.30 a.m. the following day .

At the border, the brothers had to leave the car to check. When Monika P. was discovered, Heinz Schöneberger jumped into the car, locked the doors and drove west through the slalom course. A border guard shot the car from a watchtower and hit Schöneberger in the calf. He couldn't break the last barrier because the speed was too low. He jumped out of the car, circled the barrier, and ran crouched away. A border soldier took him under fire with a service pistol. When Heinz Schöneberger was about five meters from the border line, a shot tore his carotid artery to pieces . A little later he succumbed to his injuries. The escape was observed by police officers and passers-by on the West Berlin side. As a result, there were protests against the actions of the border guards.

Because of the attempt to escape, the Potsdam District Court sentenced Horst Schöneberger to twelve years' imprisonment, of which he had to serve six and a half years in part in the Stasi prison in Hohenschönhausen until he was deported to the West. The women were sentenced to terms of 30 and 24 months. The investigations against the shooters, which were discontinued in 1967, culminated in a wall rifle trial after reunification , which ended on February 28, 1997 with an acquittal.

literature

• Hans-Hermann Hertle , Maria Nooke : The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989. A biographical manual. Edited by the Center for Contemporary History Potsdam and the Berlin Wall Foundation. Links, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-517-1 .

Web links

• Portrait from at chronik-der-mauer.de