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Chronicle 1984

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    • 1 December

      1984

      Michael Schmidt: born on Oct. 20, 1964, shot dead at the Berlin Wall on Dec 1, 1984 while trying to escape (date of photo not known)
      The 20-year-old carpenter Michael Schmidt is shot dead by GDR border soldiers while trying to escape at the Berlin sector border. The two soldiers who delivered the fatal shots are commended; only the large consumption of ammunition (50 shots) is criticised. Each of the two border soldiers receives a reward of 200 marks and a medal for exemplary border service.


      In 1990/1991, two television journalists from German broadcaster WDR, Werner Filmer and Heribert Schwan, spoke with Horst Schmidt, the father of Michael Schmidt, and recorded his memories of his son’s attempted escape and the way the Stasi treated the family. Horst Schmidt: Eine unglaubliche Geschichte (An Unbelievable Story - in German) Michael Schmidt, shot dead at the Berlin Wall on Dec 1, 1984 while trying to escape less
    • 13 December

      1984

      Forty GDR citizens who want to migrate and have sought refuge in the West German embassy in Prague go on hunger strike. After they are promised a favourable review of their applications for departure, they return to the GDR in January 1985.
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