Between November 2018 and February 2023, the research consortium investigated the deaths of GDR citizens who risked fleeing to the West and how the GDR Ministry of Justice abused the law against those wanting to flee. The research project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, consisted of three sub-projects, each of which was the responsibility of one of the three universities.
The sub-project that the University of Greifswald was responsible for, was led by Prof. Dr. Hubertus Buchstein and was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for four years. The goal was to investigate the deaths of GDR citizens attempting to escape across the Baltic Sea. The researchers attempted to determine the exact numbers of people who drowned during escape attempts and to research their life stories. The research included searching through archive materials in federal and state archives as well as examinations of the death registers of the coastal registry offices.
During this process, a total of 655 deaths by drowning in the Baltic Sea were determined for the period from 1961 to 1989, which were then analysed to determine whether they were linked to attempts to escape the GDR. 135 of these deaths were confirmed as escape attempts that ended fatally. 34 persons whose bodies were never found were declared dead. In 13 cases there is strong evidence to support the suspicion that they died during an escape attempt. Further examinations are required here. The majority of fatal escape attempts across the Baltic Sea occurred shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall, in 1961 and 1962. 11 per cent of the victims were women; most of the refugees were teenagers and young men between the ages of 16 and 30.
The results will be published in the book “Tödliche Ostseefluchten aus der DDR (1961–89). Ein biografisches Handbuch”, written by Henning Hochstein, Jenny Linek, Merete Peetz.
Further information
Also read the detailed press release on the presentation of the research results [de]
Eisener Vorhang project research results [de]
"Fact of the week" about the Baltic Sea Escapes joint research project [de]
Contact at the University of Greifswald
Prof. Dr. Hubertus Buchstein
Department of Politics and Communication Science
Ernst-Lohmeyer-Platz 3, Room 3.19a, 17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 3152
buchsteiuni-greifswaldde