Berlin was divided by the wall for 28 years Berlin

November 6, 1999
Web posted at: 9:58 p.m. EST (0258 GMT)

In this story: East German guards fled as well Many shootings were at the Death Strip 'The Americans got blamed for his death' RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

BERLIN (CNN) -- The Berlin Wall was an intimidating barrier bristling with barbed wire and armed guards.

Thousands managed to escape through or over the wall, which divided the city of Berlin for 28 years. But hundreds died trying to flee to the West before the wall fell 10 years ago -- on November 9, 1989.

Some 5,000 East Germans escaped into West Berlin, often resorting to extraordinary means. They hid in hollowed out compartments in automobiles. Others swam, dug tunnels or piloted flying machines to freedom. One slid down a high tension line. Another hid between a pair of surfboards.

VIDEO Berlin Bureau Chief Chris Burns looks back at the history of the Berlin Wall as the 10th anniversary of its fall approaches Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Germany today

East German guards fled as well

Some East German guards joined the westward migration.

"I fled with a group of people, and one of the escapees got stuck in the barbed wire. We got him out, but the East German police were shooting at us," said one former guard.

Frequently, however, the bullets hit their mark. An estimated 940 people died trying to escape, 270 of them cut down by East German guards, according to German prosecutors.

Others drowned or died jumping from buildings. During the wall's early days, dramatic escape scenes played out daily along Bernauer Street, where fronts of buildings formed the border with the West. Dozens of East Germans jumped from windows before they were bricked -- sometimes with fatal results. Eventually, the buildings were destroyed.

"First the doors were closed. Then the windows were closed. In the meantime, there were young (and) elderly people who jumped out of windows," said Eberhard Diepgen, the mayor of Berlin.

In central Berlin, the concrete wall was topped with tubular cladding to prevent anyone from climbing over

Many shootings were at the Death Strip

In the center of the city, observation towers, flood lights and patrol dogs choked a swath of land separated by parallel concrete lengths of concrete wall, known in the West as the notorious Death Strip.

More than 170 of those killed trying to escape died in the Death Strip, where armed East German guards had orders to shoot to kill.

The most shocking failed attempt took place on August 17, 1962. Peter Fechter, an 18-year-old apprentice mason, broke for freedom across the Death Strip. East German bullets stopped his flight at the base of the wall. For 50 minutes he lay unaided, moaning, "Help me."

West Berliners shouted "Murderers!" at the guards, hurled stones at U.S. military vehicles and threw first-aid supplies to Fechter.

'The Americans got blamed for his death'

They demanded that U.S. troops patrolling on the West Berlin side retrieve the injured teen-ager, but Fechter bled to death just two feet from freedom before East German police finally carried his body away.

"The Americans got blamed for his death," said J.W. Smith, a former U.S. military policeman. "We were under orders not to do anything as long as somebody had not made it into our sector."

East and West Germany unified less than a year after the wall fell. But prosecutions of suspects in border killings remain a bitter legacy.

Former East German guards have been put on trial, as have escapees who killed guards in self defense. Guards often face stiffer sentences. They have not convinced judges that they were merely following orders.

Berlin Bureau Chief Chris Burns and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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