Philipp Held (victim of the wall)
Philipp Held (born May 2, 1942 in Worms , † April 1962 in Berlin ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . He drowned while escaping in the Spree between Berlin-Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg .
Life
Philipp Held grew up with his parents in Worms. His father died in a car accident in 1955. Held completed an apprenticeship as an electrician and began studying. At the age of 19 he met 16-year-old Bärbel W., who had come to the West with her mother from the GDR in 1956. Because of the girl, there was a break with his mother. Held and Bärbel W. decided to go to the GDR. In September 1961 they passed the inner-German border. After being accepted into the GDR, they settled in Eberswalde , where Barbel's father lived.
The young couple did not feel at home in the GDR and tried to get an exit permit . When general conscription was introduced in the GDR in 1962, Held expected that he would soon be drafted into the National People's Army . In a final letter to his mother, Held indicated that he was planning an escape. Bärbel W. also knew about his plan. Philipp Held disappeared on April 8, 1962.
Members of the GDR border troops found his body trapped in an underwater barrier on April 22, 1962 at around 6 p.m. on the Schilling Bridge. Philipp Held had packed his identity papers in a cellophane bag. The border guards interpreted this as an indication of a failed border breach. Held probably drowned while trying to swim through the East Harbor to West Berlin. An examination of the body revealed an approximate time of death ten days before the find.
The public prosecutor's office in East Berlin informed Held's mother several days after the body was found of his death and later of the cremation of the body. The mother turned to the West German media because she did not believe the information. The Bild newspaper reported on May 5, 1962: " There is hardly any doubt that Philipp Held" was murdered by Ulbricht's border guards. " “In West Germany there is a rumor that Philipp Held was shot. A review after reunification could not find any evidence of this and assumes an accidental death.
A cross facing the Spree from the White Crosses Memorial on the bank of the Reichstag commemorates Philipp Held.
literature
- Christine Brecht : Philipp Held , in: The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989 , Links, Berlin 2009, pp. 76–78.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hero, Philipp |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 2, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Worms |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1962 |
| Place of death | Berlin |