Willi Block
Willi Block (born June 5, 1934 in Berlin , † February 7, 1966 in Staaken ) was a victim of the Berlin Wall .
Life
After school, Willi Block completed an apprenticeship as a construction worker. From 1954 to 1959 he was a border police officer and attended a non-commissioned officer school. He became a tank commander and instructor. He helped build the wall as a member of a factory combat group . He was a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany .
Block fled the GDR several times. He succeeded in his first attempt to escape on January 13, 1962, but returned to the GDR after a month to catch up with his wife. He was arrested and taken to a labor camp for six weeks, which he was allowed to leave after being assigned as a secret informant . A short time later, on August 18, 1962, he fled again to West Berlin. There he reported about his recruitment by the Ministry of State Security . Since he also admitted to having reported on the emergency admission procedure in West Berlin, the public prosecutor opened a case against him for violating the Freedom Protection Act. In December 1962 he returned to the GDR again because his wife wanted to file for divorce . He was arrested on charges of espionage and sentenced to imprisonment in April 1963. In November 1965 he came from imprisonment in the Bautzen correctional facility at the Staaken concrete works. His work there was marked by conflicts with his superiors. He often consumed alcohol during work hours.
On February 7, 1966, he was so drunk that he was not allowed to work. In the course of the afternoon he went to the nearby border, overcame the interior wall and passed the dog run area. Two members of the GDR border troops discovered him at around 3:45 p.m. and fired warning shots that did not stop him. Block had meanwhile reached the last hurdle before West Berlin, three rolls of barbed wire . His clothes got caught in the barbed wire and he was trapped on his stomach, unable to move. Armed border guards and police officers came to the crime scene on both sides of the border. Willi Block asked the West Berlin law enforcement officers for help, but they did not offer it until they reached West Berlin territory. On the other hand, the GDR border guards asked him to come back, which he could not do. When the fugitive tried to free himself and shouted: " Shoot me, you dogs, " the border guards and the regimental commander who was present opened fire on him. After the regimental commander's service pistol was empty, he borrowed an AK-47 to continue shooting. Of 72 shots fired, 4 hit the defenseless block lying on the ground. When two border guards saw Willi Block's body on a truck towards evening, they decided to flee, which they managed to do on the same day.
There were several reports of the incidents in the Western press. The GDR press portrayed Block as criminals and agents of the West. After German reunification, there was a legal appraisal of the death before the Berlin Regional Court in 1993. While the chief of staff, two border guards and their commander were acquitted for lack of evidence, the court sentenced the regimental commander to three years' imprisonment without parole for manslaughter. The court attested that his behavior was " an (attempted) execution ".
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Block, Willi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German casualty from the Berlin Wall |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 5, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 7, 1966 |
| Place of death | Berlin |