Dorit Schmiel (April 25, 1941 – February 19, 1962) was a German

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Not ...

who became the thirteenth known person to die at the Berlin Wall. Schmiel was fatally shot by East German border guards while attempting to escape from East Berlin to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

with a group of friends, including her

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

. Schmiel was one of only eight women to die at the Berlin Wall, and at 20 years-old was the second youngest woman victim.

Biography

Dorit Schmiel was born on April 25, 1941, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in which her father died as a soldier. Schmiel and her older brother were raised by her mother and step-father in the East Berlin district of

Pankow Pankow () is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. ...

. By the time Schmiel was 20 years-old, she had moved in with her fiancé, Detlef Teuchert, and worked as a

in a state-run manufacturing company in Pankow. Ever since she was a child, she traveled regularly to

to visit relatives, go shopping, watch movies, or go dancing. On 13 August 1961,

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

authorities abruptly sealed off the sector border, and began construction of the Berlin Wall. The subsequent loss of freedom to visit the west was a painful turning point in her life. Together with three friends: brothers Eberhard Brede and Dietrich Brede, and Dietrich's girlfriend, Brigitte Kießling, they decided early in 1962 to attempt to escape to West Berlin.Wenn Tote stören: Vom Sterben an der Mauer
- 2007 German documentary about deaths at the Berlin Wall The group had felt dissatisfaction with the political situation in East Germany, and because it had now become apparent that division of Berlin would be permanent. They decided on a place in the northern part of East Berlin, where Schmiel's cousin had previously escaped.

Death

On February 19, 1962, after midnight on a misty and cloudy night, the five friends approached the border to West Berlin's

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subdi ...

district from the east side at Rosenthal, in Pankow. After observing the movement of the East German border guards, they sneaked through a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

known today as "Friedhof Pankow VII" to its back fence, which also comprised the inner fence of the border security strip. Using

wire cutters Diagonal pliers (also known as wire cutters, diagonal cutting pliers, diagonal cutters, side cutters, dikes or Nippy cutters) are pliers intended for the cutting of wire (they are generally not used to grab or turn anything). The plane define ...

they cut a hole in the first fence, and one after another crawled through the hole, and through the snow towards the outer border fences. They had almost reached the outer fence across the Berlin Wall's "death-strip" when border guards noticed them and began shooting at them, hitting Schmiel in the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

. The gunshot caused her to cry out, and only then did the guards stop firing and approached the group. The remaining four surrendered, and obeyed the order to stand up, but Schmiel remained on the ground bleeding profusely, and crying in pain. She was transported to the Krankenhaus der Volkspolizei (People's Police Hospital) in Mitte, where she died later that same night.

Burial

Dorit Schmiel was buried on March 2, 1962, in Section 29B of the cemetery known today as "Friedhof Pankow III", in Schönholz,

Niederschönhausen Niederschönhausen (, literally "Lower Schönhausen") is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Pankow in Berlin, Germany. It is also known as "Pankow-Schönhausen" to differ it from Hohenschönhausen in Berlin- Lichtenberg ...

.,The registry of the Friedhof Pankow III, in Schönholz Like Friedhof Pankow VII, where the escape attempt took place, Friedhof Pankow III also on the border to Reinickendorf. Supplementary forces of the People's Police virtually sealed off the funeral, preventing the participation of many mourners from Niederschönhausen. As of 2012, her grave no longer exists.

Aftermath

The other escapees were interrogated for hours that same night and were tried a month later, where they were

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

for "an act that seriously endangered society" and which could have endangered peace by inciting "provocations from the class enemy." The Pankow district court sentenced them to prison terms ranging from ten months to two years. Thirty years later, Dorit Schmiel’s friends acted as witnesses and joint plaintiffs in the trial of the three border guards (Hans-Jürgen D., Rainer R., and Horst B.) who had shot at the group, killing Schmiel and wounding Eberhard Brede. It was not possible to determine which guard had fired the shots that killed Dorit Schmiel and wounded Eberhard Brede, and because they were all under 21 at the time, they were tried in a youth criminal court in

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood i ...

, and found guilty of joint manslaughter in coincidence with attempted manslaughter, and sentenced to 18 months in prison, which was commuted to

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

Literature

* Christine Brecht: ''Dorit Schmiel'', in: ''Die Todesopfer an der Berliner Mauer 1961–1989. Ein biographisches Handbuch.''Links, Berlin 2009, , p. 70–72

References

External links

Short Portrait of Dorit Schmiel at chronik-der-mauer.deThe only known photograph of Dorit Schmiel, at chronic-der-mauer.deDorit Schmiel's gravestone (cemetery Friedhof Pankow III), at chronik-der-mauer.de
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmiel, Dorit 1941 births 1962 deaths Deaths at the Berlin Wall People from East Berlin Deaths by firearm in East Germany 1960s in Berlin People from Pankow East German defectors