Abstract

On August 17, 1962, Peter Fechter, an eighteen-year-old East Berliner, bled to death at the base of a barricade after being shot multiple times by East German border guards during the course of an escape attempt. For the West German public, Fechter’s death made clear the barbarity of the shoot-to-kill order in effect along the inner-German border. Photographer unknown.

Peter Fechter at the Berlin Wall (August 17, 1962)

Unknown

Source

Source: Eighteen-year-old East Berliner Peter Fechter dies after being shot during an escape attempt at the Berlin Wall. Date: August 17,1962.
bpk-Bildagentur, image number 30015707. For rights inquiries, please contact Art Resource at requests@artres.com (North America) or bpk-Bildagentur at kontakt@bpk-bildagentur.de (for all other countries).

Recommended Citation

Peter Fechter at the Berlin Wall (August 17, 1962), published in: German History in Documents and Images, <https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/two-germanies-1961-1989/ghdi:image-611> [December 19, 2024].

Related Sources

Section of the Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin (1973)

Tunnel Escape from East to West Berlin (January 24, 1962)

Wall Neighborhood [Mauerkiez] (August 11, 1986)

Opening of the Berlin Wall: Cheering Berliners on the Wall at Brandenburg Gate (November 9, 1989)

Building the Wall: Residents Watch the Construction from the Western Side of Bernauer Strasse (August 1961)