Germany's deadly maritime border

Construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to separate West and East Germany. Those who died crossing the border included people who perished on land and at sea. — dpa/Bildarchiv

History student Anita Kraetzner-Ebert was doing archive research for an exam back in 2008 when she came across a name that has stayed with her ever since.

The records at Rostock University, in Germany’s former east, listed Lilli Gruner as a student in 1961, but by 1962, her name was crossed out in all the records.