Rudi Thurow
Rudi Thurow (born August 16, 1937 in Leipzig ) is a former GDR border soldier who fled to West Berlin in 1962 and was then the target of a planned assassination attempt by the GDR state security .
Life
Rudi Thurow volunteered for the GDR border police in 1955 . In 1960 he joined the SED . Outwardly, he seemed to be the perfect representative of the system. However, when he found out about the escape plans of some of his acquaintances, he did not report them, but made the decision to leave the GDR himself. He spoke to the acquaintances and it was planned to break through the border with a truck. The date was supposed to be February 21, 1962, on a section of the border with West Berlin, on which Thurow himself was on duty that day. In order to rule out any danger during the escape, Thurow removed the catches of the machine guns of the border guards. When this manipulation was discovered and the alarm sounded, the plan had to be changed. Thurow led the refugees to the border on foot and in uniform. He ordered border guards that he encountered to another location. He justified this with an alarm. When crossing the border, the group was noticed and an exchange of fire broke out, but no one was injured. The escape destination was Steinstücke , an exclave belonging to West Berlin . From there the refugees were flown to West Berlin by American helicopters.
In 1963, the Stasi main department I planned the murder of Thurow by the then head of HA 1, Karl Kleinjung . The executors should be the GMs "Bodo Krause", "Kurt Luft" and "Maxim Dams". Several attempts failed. In 1972 the plan was abandoned because one of the IMs was no longer available for use. Until 1966 he was an escape helper from East to West Berlin. As a contemporary witness, he reports on his experiences.
Honors
- 2012: Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
Web links
- Plan for operational measures to liquidate Thurow, Rudi (copy of Stasi documents)
- Liquidate the man! (World, 2003)
- Uwe Münster: Stasi. Death sentence from East Berlin , Focus Magazin, No. 12 1997, March 17, 1997
- Interview with the escape helper Rudi Thurow (Planet Wissen, 2006)
- Rudi Thurow at fluchthilfe.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131203102306/www.hug-archiv.de/059/05902.pdf
- ↑ https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/stasi-todesahrung-aus-ostberlin_aid_163476.html
- ↑ http://www.braunschweiger-zeitung.de/archiv/wenn-einer-von-euch-abhauen-will-denkt-immer-an-eigendorf-id509294.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thurow, Rudi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German deserter of the GDR border guards and planned murder victim of the GDR state security |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 16, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leipzig |