Numerous deaths at the Berlin Wall have become known through the media. However, for a long time, the number, identity, and fate of the victims remained largely unknown. How many people actually lost their lives at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989? Who were these individuals? How did they die? How were the families and friends of the deceased treated? What public and political reactions did the deaths provoke in East and West? What consequences did the GDR border regime have for the shooters as well as the military and political commanders after 1990? How has the memory of the victims been preserved since then?

The biographical handbook provides answers to these questions. It documents the life stories and circumstances of the deaths of those who died at the Wall and places them in their historical context. The authors systematically evaluated relevant archives, all procedural records, and the Stasi documents, supplemented by interviews with relatives and eyewitnesses.