Horst Kutscher
German coal apprentice and the 36th person to die
Horst Kutscher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Horst Kutscher (1931-07-05)July 5, 1931 Berlin, Weimar Germany |
| Died | January 15, 1963(1963-01-15) (aged 31) Rudowerstrasse, border between Treptow and Neukölln |
| Occupation(s) | auto mechanic, informant, construction worker, coal merchant |
| Known for | being shot while escaping East Germany |
Horst Kutscher (July 5, 1931 – January 15, 1963) was a German coal apprentice and the 36th person to die trying to cross the Berlin Wall from East Berlin to West Berlin.
Early life
Kutscher was born on July 5, 1931, in Treptow, the fourth of 13 children to a mechanical engineer and a flower seller.[1]
Biography
In April 1956, he fled to West Germany, with his wife and children later following him. A year later, he and his family returned to Berlin-Treptow. He worked as a "border-crosser" in the West until the border was closed in August 1961.[2]
Death
On January 15, 1963, at the border near Rudower Strasse at the sector border between Berlin-Treptow and Berlin-Neukölln, Kutscher slid under the barbed-wire fence and then along the security trenches with 25 meters left when he was fatally shot in the head.[3][2]
After the collapse of East Germany, Kutscher’s ex-wife was a witness in the trial against the guard who shot Kutscher. In August 1997, the former guard was sentenced to one year and three months' probation.[2]
See also
- List of deaths at the Berlin Wall
- Berlin Crisis of 1961
References
- ^ Baron, Udo (24 December 2018). The Victims at the Berlin Wall 1961-1989: A Biographical Handbook. Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 9783861536321 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c "Chronicle of the Wall: Victims at the wall -". Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam.
- ^ Kephart, Beth (1 April 2014). Going Over. Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452132341 – via Google Books.
External links
Media related to Horst Kutscher at Wikimedia Commons- Berlin Wall Memorial - Horst Kutscher
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