A member of the East German secret police, Martin Naumann, executed a Polish man 50 years ago who tried to cross the border into West Berlin
Former officer of the Stasi, the East German secret police, denied in trial this Thursday, 14, that he was responsible for the murder of a Polish man, 50 years ago, who was trying to escape to the western part of the country through the Berlin Wall. The case could change the way communist-era murders are prosecuted there.
+ 60 years ago, young Peter Fechter was shot dead while trying to climb the Berlin Wall
According to The Guardian, Martin Naumann, aged 80, spoke only to confirm his identity in the Berlin court. His lawyer denied all allegations against his client. He is accused of murder Czesław Kukuczka who tried to cross the border between East and West Berlin in 1974.
The delay in the trial is due to the delay in judicial processes in Germany, which has been facing difficulties in bringing former East German officials to justice for crimes allegedly committed by the communist government — which was trying to prevent citizens from fleeing to the Western part of the country.
It is estimated that at least 140 people were killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989. So far, the border guards on trial have been accused of manslaughter — a lesser charge, whose statute of limitations has already expired. But in case Naumann, he is only accused of murder.
The murder
Martin Naumann is accused of fatally shooting Czesław Kukuczka. The crime took place on March 29, 1974, when the Pole was passing through the border checkpoint at the Friedrichstraße train station — one of the best-known crossing points in divided Berlin.
That same day, recalls the British vehicle, the Pole had gone to the Polish embassy in East Berlin to demand that he be allowed to continue to the western part of the capital. For that, Kukuczka he even threatened to detonate an explosive, which was fake, if his demands were not met.
The details of the episode were rescued by historians Hans-Hermann Hertle It is Filip Ganczakwho point out that employees at the Polish embassy alerted the German secret police about what had happened.
Stasi officials reportedly took Czesław to believe that his passage had been permitted, especially after giving him an exit visa and providing transport to Friedrichstraße.
But instead, officers were ordered to render the Pole “harmless” — a euphemism commonly used to eliminate political opponents, they point out. Hertle It is Ganczak.
Prosecutors also said that Kukuczka he even surpassed two of the three border control points and “thought he had achieved his objective” when he was shot by Naumannwho was hidden out of frame at a distance of 2 meters.
