Themen
- Volksaufstand 17. Juni 1953
- Mauerbau 13. August 1961
- Flucht/Fluchthilfe
Sprache
- Englisch
Biographical information
1938 Born in East Brandenburg/Neumark (Poland)
1945 Resettlement in Berlin
Witness to the popular uprising on 17 June 1953
1959–1961 Studies in safety and telecommunications technology at the Friedrich List Transportation Academy in Dresden
1961 Escape to West Berlin
1961–1971 Studies in communications engineering at the Technical University of Berlin
1962 Assisted escapes from the GDR and participated in building the so-called 'Tunnel 29' in Berlin
1971–1973 Work as a graduate engineer
1973–1975 Training as a secondary school teacher of maths and physics, followed by a teaching position in West Berlin
1979–1987 Teacher and deputy headmaster at the German School in Lagos, Nigeria.
1987–1990 Position as director of studies in West Berlin
For health reasons, Joachim Rudolph is only available for telephone calls.
Profile
Joachim Rudolph is from East Brandenburg, which has belonged to Poland since 1945. He grew up in East Berlin, witnessing the popular uprising of 17 June 1953 as a fourteen-year-old and the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961. Following his Abitur, he first completed an apprenticeship as an electrical assembly fitter at the maintenance yard of the East German railways (Reichsbahn) in the Berlin district of Schöneweide before beginning his studies at the transportation academy in Dresden. After the construction of the Wall, he and a friend soon decided to flee the GDR together. In September 1961, the two waded from Schildow in northern Berlin through the Tegeler Fliess waterway and across the border fortifications towards the West Berlin district of Lübars. Once in West Berlin, Joachim Rudolph resumed his studies and joined a group of students from the Technical University who were digging a tunnel to East Berlin beneath Bernauer Strasse. The tunnel was finally completed on 14 September 1962 and allowed 29 people to escape to West Berlin, earning it the name 'Tunnel 29'. Encouraged by this successful operation, Rudolph joined in the construction of two other tunnels. These undertakings were discovered by the Stasi, however, and those escaping as well as a number of West German helpers were arrested on the spot.
Zeitzeugeninterview mit Joachim Rudolph
Im Auftrag der Bundestiftung Aufarbeitung interviewten Hans Sparschuh und Rainer Burmeister von Heimatfilm GbR Joachim Rudolph als Zeitzeugen des Mauerbaus von 1961. Das vollständige Interview befindet sich im Archiv der Bundesstiftung. Im Folgenden werden einige Ausschnitte daraus gezeigt.
Materialien und Berichte (Auswahl)
"Wie zwei junge Menschen aus der DDR ausbrachen". Artikel von Frank Wilhelm, Nordkurier, 09.08.2021.
"Flucht aus der DDR" - Joachim Rudolph zu Gast im Kreisgymnasium Neustadt. Badische Zeitung, 19.05.2015
"25 Jahre Mauerfall: Vom Todesstreifen zur Kiezidylle" - Joachim Rudolph kehrte an den Ort zurück, an dem er 1961 in den Westen floh. Interview von Stefan Tomik, FAZ, 2.10.2014
Die Biografie von Joachim Rudolph mit weiteren Materialien, Tonaufnahmen und Fotos finden Sie auf der Internetseite der Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer
Interview mit Joachim Rudolph auf der Seite von TF Mapping. Die Kartierung der Fluchttunnel an der Berliner Mauer
Joachim Rudolph berichtet von den Gefahren bei der Fluchthilfe und bei der Suche nach Mitstreitern, Tonaufnahme von der Gedenkveranstaltung zum 50. Jahrestag des Mauerbaus am 13. August 2011, Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer
"Wir hatten fürchterliche Angst" - Joachim Rudolph über den Volksaufstand am 17. Juni 1953, Nordwest-Zeitung, 17.6.2014