Monument in Berlin (Photo by Ron Bardal, 2004)
It happened on 17 August 1962.
Peter's family came from a little town in Germany named Haigerloch, which lies in the Swabian Alp region.
"After 1961-08-23, citizens of West Berlin were no longer allowed to enter East Berlin. On 1961-09-20, the forced evacuation of houses situated immediately at the border to West Berlin began. On 1962-08-17, Peter Fechter, an eighteen years old citizen of East Berlin, bled to death after he was shot down by East Berlin border patrol in an attempt to escape over the wall." More detail at http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/BIW/wall.html
And a photograph of the awful scene is available at http://www.coastlinevideo.com/Documentaries/wall.html