The 17th of August 1962, a glorious summer day. West Berlins student, Margot Hosseini,
plans to celebrate her birthday
near Checkpoint Charlie.
Instead she witnesses border guards
shooting East Berliner Peter Fechter as he
tries to escape. He is left lying in the
death strip seriously injured.
Margot can do nothing but stand by and watch
as he dies a slow death.
It was a traumatic experience for all of us.
Watching that young man there
and hearing him scream for help.
At first they were perfectly normal
cries for help. Then he started to plead
and he got quite and quieter as if his
life was gradually seeping out of his body.
 
It was terrible. Really terrible.
No one dares to help the dying man, neither the Americans nor the West Berlin police.
The GDR border guards do not move either.
An hour passes before the guards retrieve
the lifeless body. The images has seen
the world over. They come to symbolize the
inhumanity of the violent division of Berlin.
 
 
The public death of Peter Fechter provokes a shockwave
that quietly develops into protest. Riots break out
that night. US soldiers and police
have to keep demonstrators away from the
sector border, becoming targets
themselves in the process.
"Die Mauer muss weg! Die Mauer muss weg!"
The mayor of Berlin urges calm. If we tolerate these kinds of riots then we are
playing the same game as the other side. Our enemies
are just waiting for us to lose our
temper so I ask you to remain
level-headed
even though you may be angry.
 
