Joachim More
Joachim Mehr (born April 3, 1945 in Belgard ; † December 3, 1964 in Berlin ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . During a spontaneous attempt to escape, two members of the GDR border troops shot him .
Life
Born in 1945 as the second child, Mehr grew up in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg . He completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter at a state-owned company and then worked in his father's workshop, a self-employed carpenter. At 18 he moved out of his parents 'home, but came back to his parents' home for meals. Intentions to flee were not documented.
After work, he met friends on December 2, 1964 to visit the Christmas market on Alexanderplatz . At the end of the evening he took his girlfriend home and went to a pub. There he met a friend's brother, Hans-Jürgen K., who was three years older than him, who fled the GDR in 1962, but came back. In an interview, K. told of his escape. The two decided to take a moped to the escape point on the outskirts near Hohen Neuendorf .
When they arrived in Hohen Neuendorf they went to the border area, which was in a forest. They overcame the hinterland fence and waited under the protection of trees in front of the brightly lit death strip . At a signal from K. they ran to the three-row barbed wire fence that separated them from the West Berlin Frohnau . Two border guards discovered the refugees from their watchtower 160 meters away. While one of the guards opened fire, the second ran. Both Joachim Mehr and Hans-Jürgen K. hit the ground and continued on their way crawling. Only when they got to the fence did they decide to give up. Another border guard on the control patrol came to the scene and shot Joachim Mehr, who was lying on the ground. Joachim Mehr was killed by these shots.
After being convicted of "attempting to illegally cross the border ", Hans-Jürgen K. was imprisoned for three years. After German reunification, the Berlin Regional Court sentenced the two shooters to a suspended sentence of 18 months for manslaughter and attempted manslaughter on September 27, 1994.
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 | More, Joachim |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 3, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Belgard |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd December 1964 |
| Place of death | Berlin |