Klaus Brueske

Klaus Brueske (born September 14, 1938 in Berlin; died April 18, 1962 ibid) was a victim of the Berlin Wall. He tried to break through the sector border with a truck at the Heinrich-Heine-Straße border crossing point in Berlin. There, he suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and suffocated in the sand that was on the loading platform and entered the cab upon impacting a property wall on the West Berlin side of the border.

Life

Together with eight siblings, he grew up in Friedrichshain. Professionally, he worked as a driver for the AEG company in West Berlin. After the wall was built, he remained in East Berlin and found a new job as a truck driver. Unhappy with the situation in the GDR, he started to plan his escape with friends. They decided to break through the border with a truck.^[1]^[2]

Breakthrough

On April 17, 1962, Brueske borrowed a truck and loaded it with sand. Klaus Brueske got behind the steering wheel, and Lothar M. sat beside him. Peter G. laid down in the back of the truck. After midnight, they drove about 70 km/h (44 MPH) to the border crossing, and successfully broke through the first two boom barriers. A border guard shot a total of 14 shots at the vehicle, which came only behind the border to stand at a property wall. The injured refugees were taken to the "Urbankrankenhaus" hospital. There, Brueske was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed that he had suffered two gunshot wounds in the neck which didn't kill him immediately, then was smothered in sand which had entered the cab from behind upon impacting the property wall. The funeral, which his mother and siblings were prohibited by the East German government from attending, took place on the West Berlin "Friedhof Lübars" cemetery.^[1]^[2]

After Reunification

After the German reunification, the Berlin public prosecutor at the Landgericht Berlin brought charges against the border guard, who fired the shots. The court sentenced him in 1998 to imprisonment of 14 months, which was converted to probation.^[1]^[2]

References

Literature

Christine Brecht: Klaus Brueske, in: Die Todesopfer an der Berliner Mauer 1961–1989. Links, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-517-1, p. 79–81.

Berlin Wall

Main articles	Berlin Wall Inner German border Iron Curtain Wall of Shame East Berlin West Berlin German reunification Eastern Bloc emigration and defection Republikflucht Berlin Crisis of 1961

Memorials, museums and galleries	White Crosses East Side Gallery Checkpoint Charlie Museum Topography of Terror Mauerpark Chapel of Reconciliation

Crossings	Berlin border crossings Bornholmer Straße Checkpoint Charlie Checkpoint Bravo Berlin Friedrichstraße station Glienicke Bridge Invalidenstraße Oberbaum Bridge Sonnenallee Tränenpalast, Friedrichstrasse station

Died breaching the Wall	List of deaths at the Berlin Wall Klaus Brueske Peter Fechter Winfried Freudenberg Christian-Peter Friese Chris Gueffroy Marienetta Jirkowsky Cengaver Katrancı Erna Kelm Czesław Kukuczka Günter Litfin Dorit Schmiel Olga Segler Ida Siekmann Heinz Sokolowski Hildegard Trabant

Others associated with the Wall	Günter Schabowski Riccardo Ehrman Erich Honecker Conrad Schumann Walter Ulbricht

The Wall in speeches	Ich bin ein Berliner "Tear down this wall!"

In popular culture	The Tunnel (NBC documentary) The Wall (1962 film) The Road to the Wall Das Versprechen The Tunnel (2001 film) Rabbit à la Berlin (2009 documentary) Good Bye, Lenin! Sonnenallee The Berlin Wall (video game) "Nikita" "West of the Wall" "The Soldier" Funeral in Berlin Gotcha! Judgment in Berlin (novel) Judgment in Berlin (film) Stop Train 349 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (novel) The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film) Bridge of Spies

Other	List of Berlin Wall segments Ghost station Steinstücken

Book:Berlin Wall

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