Benito Corghi (26 May 1938 – 5 August 1976) was an Italian long-distance truckdriver, who was a victim of

Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic The Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic (german: Grenztruppen der DDR) was the border guard of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1946 to 1990. The were the primary force guarding the Berlin Wall and the Inner German border ...

on a border crossing point.

Background

Benito Corghi was an Italian long-distance truckdriver. In the morning of 5 August 1976 he crossed the border crossing at Hirschberg/Rudolphstein at the

Bundesautobahn 9 is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Berlin and Munich via Leipzig and Nuremberg. It is the fifth longest autobahn spanning . Route The northern terminus of the A 9 is at the Potsdam interchange, where it merges into the A 10, ...

into

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Then he was going back as a pedestrian to pick up papers he forgot on the

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 ...

side. This was not allowed. When a guard shouted at him and ordered him to raise his hands, he did not understand, turned around and attempted to walk back, whereupon he was shot. On the next day, the authorities of the GDR formally apologized for the "tragic accident". It was the only time in GDR history that such a formal apology was issued for a deadly occurrence along the inner-German border. The shooter was acquitted in 1994 by the District Court (''Landgericht'') of

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corghi, Benito 1938 births 1976 deaths Deaths by firearm in East Germany 1976 in East Germany