Eyewitnesses
Prisoners of the Sixties
Rainer Dellmuth
He was arrested and convicted several times for trying to escape the GDR.
To biography
Lutz Hildebrandt
He was arrested after tearing apart an election poster for the ruling communist party.
To biography
Erhard Neubert
The confectioner was arrested in 1964 after an attempted escape to West Germany.
To biography
Hartmut Richter
He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment after helping several people escape to West Berlin.
To biography
Karl-Heinz Richter
At the age of 18, he tried to escape to West Berlin by jumping on a train at the Berlin-Friedrichstrasse station.
To biography
Hans-Jochen Scheidler
The physicist protested the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, for which he was arrested by the Stasi.
To biography
Prisoners of the Seventies
Reinhard Fuhrmann
After his forced ex-matriculation from the University of Jena, he tried to escape East Germany via Bulgaria. He was arrested and detained at the Stasi prison Gera.
To biography
Friedemann Körner
The tenor was arrested with his wife after a friend attempted to flee to the West.
To biography
Manfred Matthies
Der gelernte Schiffbauer war jahrelang Fluchthelfer, bis ihn das MfS Anfang der 70er Jahre festnahm.
To biography
Edda Schönherz
The well-known TV presenter was arrested by the Stasi because she visited the West German embassy in Budapest.
To biography
Lothar Schulz
The engineer was arrested by the Stasi in the late 1970s because of posters he had made.
To biography
Gerd Zimmermann
The production manager of the German Film Association of the GDR (DEFA) attempted to escape with a colleague to Greece through Bulgaria in 1975.
To biography
Prisoners of the Eighties
Michael Bradler
The mechanic repeatedly requested to live in West Germany with his grandparents. He was arrested by the Stasi in 1982.
To biography
Gilbert Furian
He was arrested in 1985 for conducting interviews with East Berlin punks, which he wanted to publish in the West.
To biography
Jorge Luís García Vázquez
The interpreter refused the Stasi's request that he spy on a musician from Cuba, leading to his arrest.
To biography
Siggi Grünewald
The West German citizen tried to help her fiancé from the GDR escape to West Berlin. Her attempt failed.
To biography
Rolf Kranz
On a day visit to East Berlin, the West German citizen gave a man from the GDR his passport in order to facilitate his escape from East Germany.
To biography
Ret Langmeier
The musician and artist was arrested after planning an exhibition about the Solidarność movement in Poland.
To biography
Henry Leuschner
He was seriously injured by a spring-gun in 1981 while attempting to escape across the border to West Germany.
To biography
Hans-Joachim Lietsche
In the 1980s, he distributed leaflets with his church youth group.
To biography
Andreas Mehlstäubl
The sailor tried to escape to the West in 1987, but the Stasi arrested him.
To biography
Thomas Raufeisen
The son of a GDR spy was arrested after an attempt to flee to West Germany.
To biography
Mario Röllig
At the age of 19, the restaurant manager tried to escape via Hungary to Yugoslavia. The escape failed.
To biography
Wolfgang Rüddenklau
The youth representative and dissident was one of the co-founders of the environment library in East Berlin.
To biography
Torsten Rupnow
The trained chef pretended to have planned an escape from the GDR to the West via the Baltic Sea.
To biography
Harry Santos
The artist planned to escape to West Germany in 1982 but was betrayed by his girlfriend.
To biography
Monika Schneider
After a failed attempt to flee East Germany via Prague, she was imprisoned by the Stasi. Contacting her children was forbidden.
To biography
Hansjürg Schößler
The civil-rights activist was arrested several times for campaigning for environmental and peace movements.
To biography
Hans Schulze
The businessman from West Berlin was arrested by the Stasi after his attempt to help a woman from the GDR escape.
To biography