[1] Fatally wounded, he bled to death just inside GDR territory, while a West German border patrol – who saw the whole incident – stood by helplessly.

Thereafter, on each anniversary of the shooting, up to 2,000 people at a time demonstrated against the division of Germany at the point overlooking where Große was shot.

Aged 20 and 23 at the time of the shooting, the two former guards were convicted of joint homicide and given suspended sentences of one year and three months.

/ Your death will remind us to stand up for / Liberty and watch over it / On the way from Germany (East) to Germany (West) / on 29 March 1982 [was] shot / Compatriot / Heinz-Josef Große / [of] Thalwenden (Eichsfeld)[4]Following the fall of the GDR in 1989, a second wooden memorial cross was set up on the spot where Große died, just inside what was East German territory.

The preserved border fence still retains the bullet holes caused by the burst of gunfire that killed Große.