8. An Electric Fence Across the Belgian-Dutch Border Killed Thousands
When Germany occupied Belgium in WWI, it was faced with a porous Belgian-Dutch border through which smugglers, spies, and saboteurs, slipped back and forth to the neutral Netherlands, and prisoners of war escaped to freedom . By the end of 1914, over a million Belgians had fled the country. Guarding that border required many German soldiers, who were desperately needed elsewhere. So the occupiers decided to economize on manpower by using an electric fence.
Early in 1915, construction commenced on a 5 to 10 foot high electric fence, with 2000 to 6000 volt wires running through it, and covering over 125 miles of border. Those caught within 100 to 550 yards of the fence who could not explain their presence were summarily shot. By war’s end, about 3000 people had been killed along what came to be known as “The Wire of Death”, and newspapers in the Netherlands carried almost daily reports of unfortunates who had been “lightninged to death”. However, the fence did not eliminate illegal crossings, although it reduced them. Many crossed the border using creative methods such as tunneling beneath the fence, pole vaulting it, using high ladders, or tying porcelain plates to their shoes as insulation.