The Victims at the Berlin Wall 1961-1989: A Biographical Handbook - Tapa dura

* Who were the victims of the Berlin wall, and what were their stories? Although many deaths at the Berlin Wall have been publicised over the years in the media, the number, identity and fate of the victims still remain largely unknown. This biographical handbook helps to close this knowledge gap by answering the following questions: how many people actually died at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989? Who were these people? How did they die? How were their relatives and the friends treated after their deaths? What public and political reactions were triggered in the East and the West by these fatalities? What consequences did the East German border guards and military and political leaders have to pay after 1990 as a consequence of the East German border regime, and how have the victims been commemorated since their deaths? By documenting the lives and circumstances under which these men and women died at the Wall, theses deaths are placed in a contemporary historical context. The authors, in addition to systematically researching the relevant archives and examining all the legal proceedings and Stasi documents, also conducted interviews with family members and contemporary witnesses.

Dr. Hans-Hermann Hertle was born in 1955 and studied history and political science in Marburg and Berlin. From 1985 to 1999 the academic publicist and social researcher was part of the staff of scholars at the »Zentralinstitut für sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung« and worked on various German Research Foundation (DFG) projects at the Free University of Berlin. He joined the staff of scholars at the Center for Contemporary History Potsdam in December 1999. He has published several works on social and contemporary history and has produced documentary films and radio feature presentations. His work has been honored with numerous awards, including the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Kurzfilmpreis (1999), Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (2000) and the Grimme-Preis (2005) Dr. Maria Nooke was born in 1958. She studied religious education and worked on projects with children in the church and youth groups. After 1989 she studied sociology, psychology and pedagogy and has been involved in contemporary history projects on National Socialism and East German history. She has held academic and directorial responsibilities at the Berlin Wall Memorial since 1999. In 2009 she was appointed deputy director of the Berlin Wall Foundation.