Deutscher Herbst...


On October 18, 1977, the three important events that have gone down in history as "Deutscher Herbst" ("German Autumn") culminate - on this day is the climax of the dispute between the federal republican state and left-wing extremist (and murderous) terror the "Red Army Fraction" (RAF).

At exactly 5 minutes after midnight the "Operation Feuerzauber" ("Operation Magic Fire") begins at the airport of the Somali capital Mogadishu:





An elite command of the "GSG 9" anti-terrorist unit of the German Federal Police, led by Oberst Hans-Ullrich Wegner, storms the Lufthansa airplane "Landshut", which was hijacked by four Palestinian terrorists, and frees all 86 hostages unharmed without any loss of their own ...:



The "Landshut" had been kidnapped by the terrorists four days earlier ...



... to free the four RAF founders Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe, Gudrun Ensslin and Irmgard Möller, who were held in custody in a high-security prison built especially for them in Stuttgart-Stammheim ...:











The German federal government - above all Chancellor Helmut Schmidt - had refused any negotiations (or only led to pretense) - and sent the "GSG 9" ...:





Three Palestinians are killed in the liberation operation, a woman and two men, including their leader "Captain Mahmud".

The 24 years old Palestinian hijacker Suhaila Sayeh was woundet by some bullets, overwhelmed - and then handed over to the Somali authorities ...:



On April 25, 1978, she was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Somalia, but was deported to Iraq in October 1978. She later moved to Beirut to resume her studies there. In view of the Israeli intervention in the civil war there, she did not end it, but fled to Damascus, where in 1983 she met the Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abu-Matar, whom she later married. In 1990 the couple, who had had a daughter since 1985, were expelled from Syria and, after a temporary stay in Cyprus, received political asylum in Norway in 1991...:



"Landshut" flight captain Jürgen Schumann was also shot ...



... by "Captain Mahmud" the day before in Aden.

When the news from Somalia in Germany was announced on the radio in the morning, Baader, Ensslin and Raspe allegedly commit suicide in their prison cells with smuggled firearms - at least that is the officially circulated version ...:






(I myself am extremely skeptical of this suicide version and rather think that interested parties wanted to prevent further terrorist actions - with corresponding victims - in order to free the prisoners. But that is only my personal opinion.)

According to the official version, Irmgard Möller is found seriously injured after trying to hang herself with a cable ...



... and survived. In 1994 she was released.

In the afternoon the third act of the "German Autumn" follows:

The President of the German Employers' Associations, Hanns-Martin Schleyer, kidnapped by RAF terrorists ...


... is shot by his kidnappers after being held hostage for 43 days - this action was also aimed at freeing those residing in Stammheim -

After a phone call from the RAF environment, Schleyer was found that night in the trunk of a car at Mulhouse (Alsace), France ...:



Who killed him has not been clarified to this day.

It is certain that Schleyer could have survived the kidnapping - as the police had been made aware of his hiding place several times, but had left the "hot lead" unprocessed ...

I was in Hannover once during the RAF terrorism spree in the early 1970s. The atmosphere was very threatening and the police were extremely sensitive. There was a good movie made about Baader-Meinhoff which I had a chance to watch. It was very thought provoking and seemed pretty accurate. Can't remember the name of it, but it was a German production.
Good post Martin. A period still fresh in a lot of folk's memory.

Phil

I was stationed at Aviano when the Red Brigade Terrorists kidnapped General Dozier in the early 80s. Things were very secure for quite a while.

Steve

Irmgard Möller did not try to commit suicide by hangig - the picture shows the dead body of Gudrun Ensslin. Irmgard Möller tried to stab herself unsuccesfully and survived. If this would have been an operation by interested parties as suggested she would not be on parole today and tell the fairytale of the murder by the state at Stammheim.

I remember walking around Frankfurt as a young man, fresh out of Leclaire Iowa and seeing those terrorists wanted posters around town. Some of the pictures of said terrorists were X'd out....that made me smile.

Steve