Former Stasi officer Martin Naumann gets prison sentence for murder 50 years ago

This article was last updated on October 14, 2024

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Former Stasi officer Martin Naumann gets prison sentence for murder 50 years ago

In Germany, an 80-year-old former Stasi officer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a murder 50 years ago. Martin Naumann shot a Polish refugee at close range in 1974.

It is the first time that a former Stasi agent has been convicted of murder in the line of duty, almost 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Historians call the ruling of great symbolic significance to right the injustices of the communist dictatorship.

On March 29, 1974, 38-year-old Czesław Kukuczka reported at the checkpoint on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin where Naumann worked. Kukuczka believed he had permission to travel to West Berlin and thought he had achieved freedom. But just a few meters after crossing the border, he was shot in the back by Numann.

The judge said this morning that there are no doubts that the murder was carried out on the orders of the Stasi. However, the people who ordered the man to be shot can no longer be tried, the judge also said.

Bomb threat

Kukuczka had previously threatened to set off a bomb at the Polish embassy if he was not allowed into West Germany. The Pole then received a visa. Afterwards it turned out to be a fake report.

Investigations have revealed that embassy staff had reported Kukuczka’s plan to blow up the embassy to the Stasi. Stasi personnel were then ordered to “defuse” Kukuczka if he crossed the border between East and West Berlin.

According to the prosecutor, Kukuczka was ambushed. Last October Naumann became indicted. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office had demanded twelve years in prison in this case.

Ambush

Martin Naumann has always denied the accusations. His lawyer argued that Kukuczka was not innocent because of the bomb threat and that he should have known that the authorities would resort to their weapons.

Kukuczka’s family says they do not know what he would have planned if he had reached West Germany. He may have wanted to move to the US.

The investigation into the murder spanned decades. The case had previously been discontinued. But he was arrested again in 2021 after Poland issued a European arrest warrant for Naumann.

Researchers have used, among other things, Stasi archives. Three West German schoolgirls who witnessed the murder were also questioned during the trial.

Escape attempts

The Berlin Wall was built by East Germany in 1961, preventing most citizens from traveling to the West. Many still attempted to escape by climbing over it or digging a tunnel under it.

The ruthless Stasi (short for Ministry for State Security) was responsible for border control in the GDR, in addition to its work as a domestic security and intelligence service.

Over the years, at least 136 people died in an escape attempt. They were shot dead by border guards or died in accidents. The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989 after weeks of demonstrations.