A man is shot on behalf of the Stasi at the GDR border crossing at Friedrichstrasse station in Berlin. It wasn’t until 50 years later that the case came to court. Now the judges want to give their verdict.
In the middle of the day, a man is shot in the back at the GDR border crossing at Friedrichstrasse station in East Berlin. It takes decades before charges can be brought and the case comes to court in reunified Germany. Around 50 years after the crime, the Berlin Regional Court wants to pronounce its verdict today (11 a.m.) in the trial against a now 80-year-old ex-Stasi employee.
The Berlin public prosecutor’s office has requested twelve years in prison for treacherous murder. Prosecutor Henrike Hillmann is convinced that the then first lieutenant shot the 38-year-old Pole Czesław Kukuczka from a distance of two to three meters in an ambush on March 29, 1974 on behalf of the Stasi.
Defendant denies allegations
The German defendant’s defense attorney, however, called for an acquittal. It has not been proven that her client was the shooter. The 80-year-old remained silent about the allegations. At the start of the trial, his lawyer stated that her client was denying this.
The Saxon is said to have belonged to an operational group of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) and was tasked with “rendering the Pole harmless”. He is said to have previously tried to force his departure to West Berlin using a dummy bomb at the Polish embassy.
The Stasi is said to have lured the 38-year-old into a trap with a fictitious departure. He received documents and was accompanied by Stasi employees to Friedrichstrasse train station. However, when he had passed the last checkpoint there, the shot was fired.
West German students witnessed the crime
There were West German 10th grade students who happened to witness the crime. They had visited East Berlin and wanted to return to the western part of the then divided city. Several students from Hesse at the time impressively described the events in court – and their fear and bewilderment.
“There was a man standing behind me with a travel bag,” recalled a 65-year-old woman. The man was brought forward. After he got his passport back, he walked purposefully towards the underpass. Suddenly, however, a man in a long coat and sunglasses stepped forward from behind – and the shot was fired. The man with the travel bag collapsed. “I can still see that in my mind,” said the witness. The doors were then immediately closed. “We were incredibly scared.” Back in the West, the teacher informed the police.
At that time there was an unsuccessful request to the judiciary in the East, a Berlin commissioner described in the trial. The police officer was given the old files for the new investigation. But for many years there was no progress.
Crucial information only in 2016
It was only in 2016 that the Stasi records archive provided a decisive clue to the possible identity of the shooter: an order signed by the then State Security Minister Erich Mielke named twelve Stasi employees who should be honored in connection with the killing. According to the document, the defendant was awarded the “Bronze Combat Order” by the Stasi.
However, the public prosecutor’s office initially assumed it was manslaughter and not murder and discontinued the proceedings in 2017 because the crime would have been statute-barred in this case. In the meantime, however, the public prosecutor sees the murder characteristic of insidiousness fulfilled. The background for the new assessment was a European arrest warrant against the defendant following persistent investigations on the Polish side.
Defense: Not clear that defendant was the shooter
The defense attorney for the ex-Stasi employee warned in her plea that research by historians was not sufficient for a legal assessment. “Historians do not speak justice in the name of the people,” emphasized Andrea Liebscher. “I think that everything that still needed to be found out after 50 years has been found out.”
After that, it was not sufficiently certain that her client was the shooter. She is also convinced that it was manslaughter and not murder. The victim could not have been innocent given the bomb threat he had previously staged.
Awarding the “Martial Order” led to the trail
At the beginning of the trial, the presiding judge Bernd Miczajka made it clear where the difficulty lies around 50 years after the crime: “A lot will be based on the evaluation of documents.” The court must get an idea of how reliable these are. The main issue was the proposal to award the “Martial Order” after the crime.
The chamber has requested sketches or documents from the Stasi records archive several times over the past six months. A historical expert was heard as a witness. But many questions remained. Also because possible witnesses could no longer be questioned. They are dead now.
Gratitude from relatives
However, from the defense’s perspective, the court made every effort to resolve the case using the means available. And the victim’s relatives, who appear as co-plaintiffs in the proceedings, were also satisfied.
The lawyers for the three children – a daughter and two sons – and a sister of the killed Pole emphasized that their clients were never interested in a specific punishment or revenge. “They just wanted a verdict,” said lawyer Rajmund Niwinski. “The co-plaintiffs are grateful to the court and to the German state that these proceedings took place.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
