Trials & Justice

With the collapse of the border and subsequent reunification of the two German nations, the government began investigating and prosecuting former border guards for their involvement in shootings along the border and in Berlin. While a ruling in 1995 by the Germany's Constitutional Court stated that former East German intelligence agents could not be prosecuted for their actions against West Germany, it would not be the case for the Grenztrupppen. As a result, criminal charges were brought against 375 former border guards ranging from the rank of Private to General. As of December 31, 2000 the status of these trials follows:

Cases

  

 
Charges filed: 375

 
Cases completed: 337
Cases dropped: 15
Cases pending: 23

Ranks Charged
Generals: 24
Officers: 134
Soldiers & NCOs: 179

 

Status
Convictions:  259
Acquittals: 78 1
The trials were not without controversy. Some Germans felt the trials were nothing more than "Sieger Justiz" (victor's justice) as the government began indicting its former adversaries, while others felt it was time to move on. And just when the controversy seems to fade away, new discoveries rekindle the debate.

In one notable case from 1997, a  57-year-old former border guard was dismissed from his teaching job when it was discovered he had shot two boys, aged 10 and 13, who were attempting to cross the Berlin Wall in 1966. Fearing repercussions, the East German government covered up the deaths and informed the families that one of the boys had drowned and the other was struck by lightning. Trial testimony revealed that the bodies were cremated and death certificates for the boys were falsified. The incident came to light after reunification when investigators found the boys' names on a cremation list. The former guard was convicted of manslaughter and given a suspended sentence.

A year later prosecutors added more controversy when they turned the tables and sent to trial a case where a man allegedly shot a border guard during an escape attempt. The prosecution stated Rudolf Mueller shot border guard Reinhold Huhn when the guard asked for Mueller's identity papers. The escapee stated Huhn was shot accidentally by a fellow border guard as a scuffle broke out between Mueller and Huhn. Despite the discovery and shooting Mueller and his family managed to escape by tunnel into West Berlin. Versions of the shooting in West Berlin newspapers ranged from a case of self defense on the part of Rudolf Mueller to poor marksmanship on the part of Huhn's fellow border guards. A street was named after the fallen border guard and a memorial was erected in his name in East Berlin.

In April, 1999, Rudolf Mueller was convicted of manslaughter and given a one-year suspended prison sentence.

 

1. Stand der Grenzerprozesse, www.alant.purespace.de/grenzer.htm

2. Bruce Kennedy, Order 101: Shooting to Kill at the Berlin Wall, CNN Cold War,  http://cgi.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/09/spotlight/