A former East German secret policeman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the murder of a Polish man who tried to escape to West Berlin 50 years ago.
The man was named in court documents as Martin Manfred N, 80. Czeslaw Kukuczka’s back when he claimed to be carrying a bomb and asked for permission to leave the Polish embassy.
Details of the killing remained unknown for decades after the Stasi secret police destroyed files related to the case before communist East Germany reunified with the West in 1991.
Berlin prosecutors charged him in 2023 following an ongoing investigation by historians and Polish authorities.
On March 29, 1974, 38-year-old firefighter Kukuchka entered the Polish Embassy on Unter den Linden in East Berlin with a briefcase.
The father-of-three falsely claimed he was carrying a bomb. He asked to be allowed to travel to West Berlin.
Stasi officials gave him an exit visa and some West German funds and escorted him to Friedrichstraße station, which still had trains from the west side of the city.
Kukuchka passed through several border controls inside the station. However, before he reached the West Berlin platform, a man approached him from behind and shot him in the back.
A group of schoolchildren from Hesse, West Germany, were among the witnesses to the murder. Some gave evidence at the trial that they saw a man shoot Kukuchka before “uniformed men” blocked the passage.
Historians uncovered relevant documents in the Stasi archives and discovered details of the case. Some documents linking Nauman to the murders have been shredded and reconstructed using specialized machinery.
Kukuchka’s family was never officially informed of his fate. A few weeks after his murder, his ashes were sent to his wife.
After Poland issued a European arrest warrant for Naumann in 2021, the case went to trial.
The trial is seen as having special historical significance in Germany, similar to the trials of surviving Holocaust perpetrators.
Martin Manfred N has always maintained his innocence. His lawyer said there was no evidence he carried out the killing.
East Germany was created from the parts of Germany occupied by the Soviet Union after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. .
In 1991, the two countries were reunited to form modern Germany.
