WHAT: A video game called “1378 (km),” made by a German student, aims to re-create life as an East German border guard who shoots political fugitives who are fleeing to West Germany.
THE OUTRAGE: Relatives of victims who were shot during the Cold War are irate, saying the game “makes a mockery” of those who were killed. “The shootings at the wall were no game — they destroyed people’s lives and families. But people playing this game won’t get a sense of that,” a member of the Association for Victims of Communist Tyranny told Reuters.
WHY IT WAS DONE: Jens Stober, 23, created the game as part of earning his university degree and said it has educational value. “Becoming an East German escapee or border guard enables players to identify with these figures,” he said, noting that 1,378 is the number of kilometers of the border between East and West Germany.
