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Filip Stefanovic

There are some snapshots that have marked the world, at one step by condensing entire chapters of recent history, who does not remember the militia fell in Spain, the photographs of Capa's D-Day, or the Americans hoisting the flag atop Mount Suribachi?

image more than any other is associated with the Cold War is certainly that of Conrad Schumann.

Schumann, born March 28, 1942, was the first and perhaps most famous fugitive of the German Democratic Republic was born in today's Saxony, enlisted in Bereitschaftspolizei, SWAT teams and riot police guarded the construction of the Berlin Wall. It was August 1961, and under the incredulous eyes of the soldiers Berliners NVA (Nationale Volksarmee, Army Nazionalpopolare) planted the first stakes and barbed wire stretched between the tears of those you could see forever torn from their loved ones, relatives, friends ...

Perhaps it was not only the desire for freedom, a peaceful and normal life out of the yoke of communist dictatorship, perhaps it was the courage of unconsciousness, of those 19 years hidden under his uniform and helmet fell eyes, to give young Conrad the courage to take the running and jumping, that hot August 15, 1961. The photographer Peter Leibing had the foresight and luck able to capture the miracle, the boots crushing barbed wire, rifle on shoulder, arms outstretched to soar, his face tense, holding their breath, as if to see how it turns out, if breathing or if it will resume Instead hit the back by his companions.

is a picture full of meaning not only because it paints the historical reality of an era, the inner drama of the Cold War symbol of the city and its citizens, but because it goes beyond the political moment, conveying a universal message and eternal: the quest of freedom, the fight against all forms of limitation of human life, unique and precious, that too many times, in too many parts of the world was crushed by the will and the strength of a few. It is a photograph that does not triumph over the East and West, but only a man and his will to choose, to their own lives and their future, without hindrance or stakes imposed by a power-down.

The flight was successful, but you can not talk about a happy ending: in exile from home, Conrad lived all his life in Bavaria, not far from their family and fortune, working at Audi in Ingolstadt. Throughout his life he received letters from family members in which they begged him to come back to them, finding out only after the collapse of the GDR have been always written by the laying of the Stasi. Fall of the wall is returned to talk about Conrad and his story, and he admitted what he had to suffer for his choice, he was also an alcoholic for ten years: "Only since November 9, 1989 [fall of the Wall, ed], I felt truly free"

In 1990 he was finally able to return to visit in Saxony, sadly discover that many had never forgiven his action, both among the friends of the family, and thirty years later not addressed even the word.

put an end to their sufferings June 20, 1998, with a noose around his neck in the orchard behind the house, leaving no message. " I'm still proud of what I did, there was no chance even if I ran a great danger and I cut each deck with my past: I lost my family, friends, work, everything, "he once said . But not always be sure you have made the right choice is enough to drive away the ghosts of the past.

And after all, what changes? Conrad Schumann has achieved immortality long ago, at age 19, one meter above the ground, over the barbed wire: it has taken off like a hawk, and is no longer landed.