18 year old Peter Fechter killed crossing the Berlin Wall
August 17, 1962, 18 year old Peter Fechter, was murdered while trying to cross the Berlin Wall.
“… he just wanted freedom.”
Inscription on a memorial column erected in 2022
Peter Fechter undated photo.
About one year after the construction of the wall, Fechter attempted to flee from East Germany (German Democratic Republic) together with his friend Helmut Kulbeik. When both reached the wall, guards fired at them. Although Kulbeik succeeded in crossing the wall, Fechter, still on the wall, was shot in the pelvis in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the Eastern side, where he remained in view of Western onlookers, including journalists. Despite his screams, he received no medical assistance from the East side, and could not be tended to by those on the West side. He bled to death after approximately one hour.
ullstein bild
1st Anniversary of Opening of Berlin Wall
Issued 1990 by the German post office
Designer: Manfred Gottschall
The Memorial Site for Peter Fechter | Chronicle of the Wall (chronik-der-mauer.de)