East German Shoot-to-Kill Order Is Found
By JUDY DEMPSEY
New York Times
BERLIN, Aug. 12 — Seventeen years after German reunification, archivists have found the first written proof that East German border guards had been ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to escape to West Germany, including women and children.
The seven-page order, dated Oct. 1, 1973, was discovered last week in the regional archive office in the eastern German city of Magdeburg. Though unsigned, it shows that the Ministry for State Security, known as the Stasi, had told guards that they must “stop or liquidate” anyone trying to cross the border.
“Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used,” the document said.
The revelations, which stunned politicians here across the political spectrum, were made public just days before the 46th anniversary on Monday of the building of the Berlin Wall, which divided the city and became the symbol of the cold war. The wall was toppled on Nov. 9, 1989, and paved the way for the reunification of the city and the two Germanys.
The number of East Germans who successfully crossed the border is unknown. According to historians, about 2,800 border guards crossed the border from 1961 to 1989. The Center for Contemporary Historical Research in Potsdam, near Berlin, said 270 to 780 people trying to flee were killed by border guards.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
BERLIN, Aug. 12 — Seventeen years after German reunification, archivists have found the first written proof that East German border guards had been ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to escape to West Germany, including women and children.
The seven-page order, dated Oct. 1, 1973, was discovered last week in the regional archive office in the eastern German city of Magdeburg. Though unsigned, it shows that the Ministry for State Security, known as the Stasi, had told guards that they must “stop or liquidate” anyone trying to cross the border.
“Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used,” the document said.
The revelations, which stunned politicians here across the political spectrum, were made public just days before the 46th anniversary on Monday of the building of the Berlin Wall, which divided the city and became the symbol of the cold war. The wall was toppled on Nov. 9, 1989, and paved the way for the reunification of the city and the two Germanys.
The number of East Germans who successfully crossed the border is unknown. According to historians, about 2,800 border guards crossed the border from 1961 to 1989. The Center for Contemporary Historical Research in Potsdam, near Berlin, said 270 to 780 people trying to flee were killed by border guards.
(Continued here.)
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