Horst Einsiedel
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Horst Einsiedel (born February 8, 1940 in Berlin ; † March 15, 1973 there ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . Members of the GDR border troops shot him while trying to escape from the GDR .
Life
Horst Einsiedel was born in Berlin-Pankow . After school, he first completed an apprenticeship as a locksmith and then went back to school, which he graduated from high school. He then studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University in Dresden . In 1967 he moved to Berlin-Weißensee with his wife and their daughter, who was born in 1966 . As a graduate engineer, he worked in various companies in East Berlin. His last job was the VEB Rationalisierungswerk Heinersdorf. Horst Einsiedel refused to join the SED and was therefore disadvantaged in his career opportunities, as party membership was of particular importance in promotions. He talked to his wife about fleeing to West Berlin. His sister went there before the Wall was built and his mother moved there in 1969. For his wife, however, the escape with the toddler was too risky, so Horst Einsiedel decided to flee alone. He saw a suitable place at a cemetery in Pankow, which was right on the border.
On the morning of March 15, 1973, he said goodbye to his wife on the pretext of going to the emergency dental service. Even in the dark he drove his car to the Pankow cemetery. There he stole two ladders. With the first, a leaning ladder, he climbed over the hinterland fence and then climbed the signal fence with the folding ladder. He raised the alarm. He ran on to the actual wall and put the ladder there. In the meantime, two border guards on a watchtower 200 meters away had noticed him. They immediately opened fire on the fugitive. Horst Einsiedel succumbed to his injuries in the border strip, hit by shots in the neck and chest.
Horst Einsiedel's wife called the dental emergency service around 8 a.m. to find out that her husband did not show up. The next day, she found that her husband's personal records were missing. Therefore, she assumed that he had escaped. The Ministry of State Security developed various legends to cover up the circumstances of death. After several interrogations of the wife, the Stasi came to the conclusion that she knew nothing about the attempted escape. Her husband fell victim to a violent crime in a forest, was presented to her as a legend at the end of March 1973.
The border guards involved were awarded the medal for exemplary border service . After German reunification, they had to answer a wall rifle trial before the Berlin district court . In 1999, both received suspended prison sentences of 15 months for jointly committed manslaughter. Another case against the commander of the gunmen was dropped in 2002 because of the defendant's permanent incapacity to stand trial. He was charged with aiding and abetting manslaughter.
literature
- Hans-Hermann Hertle , Maria Nooke : The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961 - 1989. A biographical handbook. Edited by the Center for Contemporary History Potsdam and the Berlin Wall Foundation. Links, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-517-1 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Einsiedel, Horst |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 15, 1973 |
| Place of death | Berlin |