"Conversations with Eyewitnesses" – with Karl-Heinz Poncé

Assistance in Escaping and Stories of People at the Berlin Wall

Zeitzeuge Karl-Heinz Poncé – Zeitzeuge Karl-Heinz Poncé

Karl-Heinz Poncé was born in East Berlin in October 1949, just a few days before the founding of the GDR. His path was predetermined: First a member of the Pioneers, then joining the FDJ (Free German Youth), graduating from the POS (polytechnic high school), and beginning an apprenticeship as an electrician in 1966. On August 13, 1961, he was spending time at a summer camp on Lake Werbellin. The full extent of the news about the construction of the Wall only became clear to him when he saw the border barriers upon his return to Berlin. He then began to question things. And that was precisely what was forbidden in the GDR. On January 20, 1967, Poncé was arrested, taken to the Stasi remand center in Berlin-Pankow, and charged. He was accused of being the spokesperson for a youth group that took a critical look at life in the GDR. This was followed by six months of pretrial detention and a 14-month prison sentence for incitement against the state. His longing to leave the GDR grew…
In 1972, he was arrested again—in Czechoslovakia—for attempting to flee the country.

Poncé does not tell the story of a successful escape from the GDR here, but rather recounts life in the GDR—unvarnished, with all its problems and reprisals. Guests are given a deeper understanding of these stories through rare documents detailing his time in prison and his departure from the GDR.

Translated with DeepL

Meeting point: Brunnenstraße 142, 10115 Berlin (near the Bernauer Straße subway station)

Price: €7.00