One of the youngest Deaths at the Berlin Wall.
On the afternoon of May 14, 1973, the boy was playing with a friend on the Kreuzberger Ufer, a riverbank of the Spree River near the war-damaged Brommy Bridge. They had advanced as far as the quay wall when the five-year-old boy suddenly fell into the water. His friend immediately called out for help and a 12-year-old girl ran to a fire alarm box located 200 meters away and pulled the alarm at 11:55 a.m. The first West Berlin police car arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes later. Siegfried Kroboth managed to keep himself above water and tried to hold his breath by placing his hand over his mouth. But then he ran out of energy and went under the water just before the Schilling Bridge. It might still have been possible to save the child at this point, but the police did not have the authority to enter the water because, in this section of the border, the entire width of the Spree belonged to East Berlin. At 12:07 a water rescue vehicle of the West Berlin fire department arrived. The divers were ready to begin their rescue operation, but had to wait until they received authorization to enter the water. They had no choice but to remain inactive on the Gröbenufer. The crew of an East German border boat had apparently also noticed the accident. When the boat approached the site of the incident, the West Berlin police called out to the border soldiers, telling them where the boy had fallen into the water and where they could probably find him. The border guards, however, did not react. The mother, who had also arrived by then, had to watch in tears as the retrieval of her son continued to be delayed. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen first needed to inform an East German border officer on the Oberbaum Bridge before the East German border troops sent another boat with divers on board to the site. It was already 12:45 p.m. when the first diver entered the water; a half hour later he was joined by a second one. At 2 p.m. another boat of the East German border troops arrived to drop off a third diver. The West Berlin firemen offered their assistance but were ignored, as the border guards were forbidden from engaging in any contact with people on the west side. As they searched for the boy they followed the tips offered by the people on the west bank but did not show any other reaction. “During the rescue operation the East German boat acted in accordance with the information provided by the West Berlin police but never once did the crew respond.” A strange feeling of helplessness set in on the west side. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen spoke to the East German divers through a megaphone, asking for at least a sign that they could hear him but received no reaction. Four hours after the accident occurred, at 3:50 p.m., the East German divers pulled the body of the five-year-old boy out of the water and transported him to East Berlin. In the early morning of May 16, 1973, East German border guards handed over Siegfried Kroboth’s body to his parents at the Oberbaum Bridge border crossing. It was the second major tragedy to affect Siegfried Kroboth’s parents. Five years earlier, to the very day, their daughter, 21 years old at the time, was murdered in East Berlin and thrown into the Spree from the other side.
(Information from http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/1973-321,431,2.html)
On the afternoon of May 14, 1973, the boy was playing with a friend on the Kreuzberger Ufer, a riverbank of the Spree River near the war-damaged Brommy Bridge. They had advanced as far as the quay wall when the five-year-old boy suddenly fell into the water. His friend immediately called out for help and a 12-year-old girl ran to a fire alarm box located 200 meters away and pulled the alarm at 11:55 a.m. The first West Berlin police car arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes later. Siegfried Kroboth managed to keep himself above water and tried to hold his breath by placing his hand over his mouth. But then he ran out of energy and went under the water just before the Schilling Bridge. It might still have been possible to save the child at this point, but the police did not have the authority to enter the water because, in this section of the border, the entire width of the Spree belonged to East Berlin. At 12:07 a water rescue vehicle of the West Berlin fire department arrived. The divers were ready to begin their rescue operation, but had to wait until they received authorization to enter the water. They had no choice but to remain inactive on the Gröbenufer. The crew of an East German border boat had apparently also noticed the accident. When the boat approached the site of the incident, the West Berlin police called out to the border soldiers, telling them where the boy had fallen into the water and where they could probably find him. The border guards, however, did not react. The mother, who had also arrived by then, had to watch in tears as the retrieval of her son continued to be delayed. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen first needed to inform an East German border officer on the Oberbaum Bridge before the East German border troops sent another boat with divers on board to the site. It was already 12:45 p.m. when the first diver entered the water; a half hour later he was joined by a second one. At 2 p.m. another boat of the East German border troops arrived to drop off a third diver. The West Berlin firemen offered their assistance but were ignored, as the border guards were forbidden from engaging in any contact with people on the west side. As they searched for the boy they followed the tips offered by the people on the west bank but did not show any other reaction. “During the rescue operation the East German boat acted in accordance with the information provided by the West Berlin police but never once did the crew respond.” A strange feeling of helplessness set in on the west side. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen spoke to the East German divers through a megaphone, asking for at least a sign that they could hear him but received no reaction. Four hours after the accident occurred, at 3:50 p.m., the East German divers pulled the body of the five-year-old boy out of the water and transported him to East Berlin. In the early morning of May 16, 1973, East German border guards handed over Siegfried Kroboth’s body to his parents at the Oberbaum Bridge border crossing. It was the second major tragedy to affect Siegfried Kroboth’s parents. Five years earlier, to the very day, their daughter, 21 years old at the time, was murdered in East Berlin and thrown into the Spree from the other side.
(Information from http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/1973-321,431,2.html)
One of the youngest Deaths at the Berlin Wall.
On the afternoon of May 14, 1973, the boy was playing with a friend on the Kreuzberger Ufer, a riverbank of the Spree River near the war-damaged Brommy Bridge. They had advanced as far as the quay wall when the five-year-old boy suddenly fell into the water. His friend immediately called out for help and a 12-year-old girl ran to a fire alarm box located 200 meters away and pulled the alarm at 11:55 a.m. The first West Berlin police car arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes later. Siegfried Kroboth managed to keep himself above water and tried to hold his breath by placing his hand over his mouth. But then he ran out of energy and went under the water just before the Schilling Bridge. It might still have been possible to save the child at this point, but the police did not have the authority to enter the water because, in this section of the border, the entire width of the Spree belonged to East Berlin. At 12:07 a water rescue vehicle of the West Berlin fire department arrived. The divers were ready to begin their rescue operation, but had to wait until they received authorization to enter the water. They had no choice but to remain inactive on the Gröbenufer. The crew of an East German border boat had apparently also noticed the accident. When the boat approached the site of the incident, the West Berlin police called out to the border soldiers, telling them where the boy had fallen into the water and where they could probably find him. The border guards, however, did not react. The mother, who had also arrived by then, had to watch in tears as the retrieval of her son continued to be delayed. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen first needed to inform an East German border officer on the Oberbaum Bridge before the East German border troops sent another boat with divers on board to the site. It was already 12:45 p.m. when the first diver entered the water; a half hour later he was joined by a second one. At 2 p.m. another boat of the East German border troops arrived to drop off a third diver. The West Berlin firemen offered their assistance but were ignored, as the border guards were forbidden from engaging in any contact with people on the west side. As they searched for the boy they followed the tips offered by the people on the west bank but did not show any other reaction. “During the rescue operation the East German boat acted in accordance with the information provided by the West Berlin police but never once did the crew respond.” A strange feeling of helplessness set in on the west side. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen spoke to the East German divers through a megaphone, asking for at least a sign that they could hear him but received no reaction. Four hours after the accident occurred, at 3:50 p.m., the East German divers pulled the body of the five-year-old boy out of the water and transported him to East Berlin. In the early morning of May 16, 1973, East German border guards handed over Siegfried Kroboth’s body to his parents at the Oberbaum Bridge border crossing. It was the second major tragedy to affect Siegfried Kroboth’s parents. Five years earlier, to the very day, their daughter, 21 years old at the time, was murdered in East Berlin and thrown into the Spree from the other side.
(Information from http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/1973-321,431,2.html)
On the afternoon of May 14, 1973, the boy was playing with a friend on the Kreuzberger Ufer, a riverbank of the Spree River near the war-damaged Brommy Bridge. They had advanced as far as the quay wall when the five-year-old boy suddenly fell into the water. His friend immediately called out for help and a 12-year-old girl ran to a fire alarm box located 200 meters away and pulled the alarm at 11:55 a.m. The first West Berlin police car arrived at the scene of the accident a few minutes later. Siegfried Kroboth managed to keep himself above water and tried to hold his breath by placing his hand over his mouth. But then he ran out of energy and went under the water just before the Schilling Bridge. It might still have been possible to save the child at this point, but the police did not have the authority to enter the water because, in this section of the border, the entire width of the Spree belonged to East Berlin. At 12:07 a water rescue vehicle of the West Berlin fire department arrived. The divers were ready to begin their rescue operation, but had to wait until they received authorization to enter the water. They had no choice but to remain inactive on the Gröbenufer. The crew of an East German border boat had apparently also noticed the accident. When the boat approached the site of the incident, the West Berlin police called out to the border soldiers, telling them where the boy had fallen into the water and where they could probably find him. The border guards, however, did not react. The mother, who had also arrived by then, had to watch in tears as the retrieval of her son continued to be delayed. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen first needed to inform an East German border officer on the Oberbaum Bridge before the East German border troops sent another boat with divers on board to the site. It was already 12:45 p.m. when the first diver entered the water; a half hour later he was joined by a second one. At 2 p.m. another boat of the East German border troops arrived to drop off a third diver. The West Berlin firemen offered their assistance but were ignored, as the border guards were forbidden from engaging in any contact with people on the west side. As they searched for the boy they followed the tips offered by the people on the west bank but did not show any other reaction. “During the rescue operation the East German boat acted in accordance with the information provided by the West Berlin police but never once did the crew respond.” A strange feeling of helplessness set in on the west side. The officer in charge of the West Berlin firemen spoke to the East German divers through a megaphone, asking for at least a sign that they could hear him but received no reaction. Four hours after the accident occurred, at 3:50 p.m., the East German divers pulled the body of the five-year-old boy out of the water and transported him to East Berlin. In the early morning of May 16, 1973, East German border guards handed over Siegfried Kroboth’s body to his parents at the Oberbaum Bridge border crossing. It was the second major tragedy to affect Siegfried Kroboth’s parents. Five years earlier, to the very day, their daughter, 21 years old at the time, was murdered in East Berlin and thrown into the Spree from the other side.
(Information from http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/1973-321,431,2.html)
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
