Ulrich Krzemien

Memorial plaque on May-Ayim-Ufer, in Berlin-Kreuzberg

Ulrich Krzemien (born September 13, 1940 in Berlin ; † March 25, 1965 there ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall . He drowned in the Spree while trying to swim from West to East Berlin.

Life

Ulrich Krzemien was born in Berlin during the Second World War, the fourth child of a war widow. His mother had to look after her six children alone because the father did not return from the war. Ulrich Krzemien finished school after eighth grade. He then completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer at VEB Bau Berlin. He then worked in various construction companies in East Berlin. In the summer of 1959 he looked for an apartment and a job in West Berlin. A few weeks later, he informed his mother, who had meanwhile reported him missing, that he wanted to live in West Berlin. After that, he visited his mother more often across the open sector boundary. He was arrested in July 1961 and put on trial for so-called “ escape from the republic ”. He served his sentence in the Bützow-Dreibergen prison until September 1962. Contrary to his wishes, he had to stay in East Berlin, where he was assigned to the VEB Kühautomatomat as a transport worker . In mid-October 1962 he fled to West Berlin through the Teltow Canal . He was still in correspondence with his mother.

On March 25, 1965 an incident occurred in the Spree between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. A stranger swam from West to East Berlin around 9:30 p.m. Shortly before the eastern bank he called a border guard for help. This didn't help him. When the swimmer climbed the ladder on the bank, he slipped and drowned in the water. The border guard fired five times in the air to alert border boats. The subsequent search was fruitless. The incident was also noticed on the West Berlin side and emergency services were notified. However, they were not allowed to go into the water, which at this point belonged entirely to East Berlin.

On April 13, 1965, a body of water was found between Brommy and Schilling bridges , which was later identified as Ulrich Krzemien. The Ministry of State Security assumed that it was also the unknown from March 25th. The next day, MfS employees questioned Krzemien's mother and informed her that he had drowned. Significant blood alcohol was found during the autopsy.

After German reunification, his sister turned to the Berlin Senate with the suspicion that her brother had been shot near the Massante bridge . She had received the information from a GDR public prosecutor, a common legend among MfS employees. The investigation by the Berlin public prosecutor's office was discontinued because there were no indications of third-party fault.

literature

• Hans-Hermann Hertle, Maria Nooke : The victims of the Berlin Wall 1961–1989. A biographical manual . Ch. Links, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-517-1 .

Web links

Commons : Ulrich Krzemien  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portrait of Ulrich Krzemien at chronik-der-mauer.de