peter fechter (14 january 1944 - 17 august 1962) is one of the best known victims of the berlin wall. fechter was a bricklayer. aged 18, he tried to cross the wall into the west, near checkpoint charlie, to live with his sister. he did this with his friend and colleague, helmut kulbeik. both started to climb the wall at around 14:15. kubelik was successful, and could escape. fechter was hit by several gunshots, one of which pierced his lung, and fell back down, to what was called the "death strip". he was unable to move, and started to cry for help. crowds started to gather on both sides of the wall; on the east side, they were dispersed by police.