Martin Naumann, 80, shot Czesław Kukuczka in the back at close range as he tried to cross into West Berlin
The crossing at Friedrichstraße in 1986. Kukuczka, who had threatened to detonate a fake explosive, was under the impression he was to be a free man.The crossing at Friedrichstraße in 1986. Kukuczka, who had threatened to detonate a fake explosive, was under the impression he was to be a free man.A former officer in the East German secret police has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for the murder of a Polish firefighter at a Berlin border crossing 50 years ago.
It took the dogged research skills of a historian immersed in the history of the Ministry for State Security , or the Stasi – which was the intelligence service and secret police of the communist GDR – to unearth the details of the case years later. Naumann, from Leipzig, who had repeatedly denied the charges against him, was one of the first former East German officials to be charged with murder instead of manslaughter. Prosecutors had demanded a 12-year prison sentence for him, highlighting the “particularly treacherous” characteristic of the killing, namely that Kukuczka was shot having believed he had made it to freedom.
Naumann, hiding behind a strategically placed screen at the station, shot Kukuczka in the back from a distance of around 2 metres after he had crossed two of three control points. Naumann typically appeared in court wearing a black corduroy cap and trainers, and clutching an office file to cover his face. He was described as having lived a life of quiet retirement for decades in suburban Leipzig, until his past caught up with him in 2016. He spoke only once to confirm his identity.
On the sidelines of the trial, Gańczak said that while authorities in communist Poland and their counterparts in East Germany had attempted to cover up the murder, they disagreed on how to present it. “Whilst the Polish side wanted it to look like Kukuczka had taken his own life, the GDR was not in agreement … According to a shortened version of events they prepared, there had been an incident at the border crossing, which had resulted in Kukuczka being killed.
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