History of the RAF

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,680 Subtitles extracted by gianni zym 2 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:02,480 Terror in Germany. 3 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,040 For three decades the Red Army Faction kept the Federal Republic on edge... 4 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,720 with attacks, kidnappings, murders. 5 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:16,400 [Helmut Schmidt] 'As I speak to you the perpetrators will certainly also be listening somewhere' 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,800 A small group of left-wing rebels in a struggle against the state. 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,160 Used and fought against by secret services across the world. 8 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,640 A severe test, not only for the Federal Republic. 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:41,400 THE HISTORY OF THE RAF 1977: The German Autumn 10 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,440 Stammheim prison,Stuttgart. 11 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:53,840 At the beginning of 1977 four leading terrorists of the First Generation of the RAF were incarcerated on the Seventh Floor. 12 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:55,800 Andreas Baader, 13 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,280 his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin, 14 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:00,960 Jan-Carl Raspe and Irmgard Möller. 15 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:07,720 [Hans Nusser. Former director of Stammheim prison.] Baader decided things. He was the absolute master up there. 16 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:14,480 He laid down the law and, when he was in a bad mood, 17 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:21,720 the others got it in the neck one way or another, like it or not. 18 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:27,400 It was the same for his lawyer Croissant, too; he was also insulted as a 'stupid arsehole'. 19 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:28,720 Nothing held him back. 20 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,000 Baader had one objective above anything else; to get out of Stammheim 21 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,880 and he put pressure on the RAF members who were in the underground. 22 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,560 In Aden, communist South Yemen, 23 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:48,880 the members of the RAF Second Generation had been trained in the use of weapons in 1976. 24 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,680 The Palestinian terror organisation PFLP was giving support to the Germans. 25 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,320 At this point the leader of the illegal RAF was Siegfrie Haag. 26 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:07,280 The 31-year-old Haag, a left-wing lawyer, had previously worked on behalf of RAF members. 27 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,240 He defended Holger Meins and Andreas Baader. 28 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:16,880 [Siegfried Haag. Born in Aurich in 1945. Andreas Baader's lawyer.] He acted as a courier between the RAF prisoners and recruited new members through his legal practice. 29 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:23,120 [Recruited new RAF members. Leader of the RAF Second Generation.] Having gone into the underground he pushed for violent action to free the Stammheimers. 30 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,480 In November 1976 Haag was arrested near Frankfurt. 31 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,880 The police found highly-charged documents in his car; 32 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:39,440 strategy papers and working plans 33 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,240 with code words and cover names. 34 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:45,920 'Operation Margarine' was under discussion. 35 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,200 A certain 'H.M.' was to be checked out. 36 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,160 There was the question of where someone could be stashed away. 37 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,720 And the goal was the 'big get-out'. 38 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,560 So you can say that the Haag-Mayer Papers that were found in November 1976 39 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:08,120 Already contained in rough terms the road map for the German Autumn of 1977. 40 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,960 The BKA (Federal Criminal Police) knew that RAF operations were in the offing with the aim of forcing the liberation of the prisoners. 41 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,280 But the exact nature of the plans remained unclear. 42 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,400 Meanwhile BKA president Horst Herold further expanded the capabilities of his organisation. 43 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:33,600 He bet on computers and the new method of cross-referencing government databases. 44 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:42,200 Criteria were entered in order to filter out vehicles, addresses and people from countless data entries. 45 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,960 [Rainer Hofmeyer, former Head of the Department for Left-Wing Terrorism, BKA.] Herold was at the head of this new development and orientation at the BKA. 46 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,360 On the one side the strategy was highly intellectual in its basis 47 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,600 and on the other side he had built up the technical capabilities of the BKA: 48 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:02,640 its search capabilities, its forensics, its records, its laboratories. 49 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:12,200 And he also made sure that the BKA was equipped with the personnel needed to meet these coming demands. 50 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:22,160 But at the beginning of 1977 no one at the BKA yet knew what demands its officers would actually face that year. 51 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,960 The first target of the RAF was West Germany's Attorney General, Siegfried Buback. 52 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:34,080 In 1962 he had, as a public prosecutor, led the search of the offices of the magazine Der Spiegel. 53 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,520 Suspicions of treason could be proved. 54 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,880 When Buback became Attorney General in 1974 55 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,960 he was responsible for investigations against the RAF 56 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,160 and he was made responsible for the prison conditions. 57 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:53,120 For Baader that made Buback a very personal enemy. 58 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,520 The murder of Siegfried Buback and his escort was a pure act of revenge. 59 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:06,360 They had no interest in kidnapping him, they just wanted to liquidate him. 60 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:10,400 From the start this was given the green light 61 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,920 or was ordered by Andreas Baader 62 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,800 with the short phrase 'the General must go'. 63 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:23,600 From his Stammheim cell Baader decided the fate of the Attorney General. 64 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,200 The RAF began its 'Operation Margarine'. 65 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,760 SB was a brand of margarine in those days 66 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,920 and also the initials of Siegfried Buback. 67 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,040 Buback sensed the danger. 68 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:44,280 [Michael Buback. Son of Siegfried Buback.] My father didn't appear frightened or fearful. He didn't speak about it. 69 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,440 But he was very serious in the weeks and months before the event. 70 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,520 I think he didn't want to worry the family. 71 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:59,360 On 7 April 1977 Buback was shot by an RAF squad in Karlsruhe. 72 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,320 He was on his way to work in his official car. 73 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:08,760 Wolfgang Göbel, his chauffeur, and Georg Wuster, head of the motor pool, were also killed. 74 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:17,240 [Rainer Hofmeyer, former Head of the Department for Left-wing Terrorism, BKA.] We hadn't thought that attacks would be carried out with such brutality and contempt for human life. 75 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:24,800 We were clear that Buback stood right of the top of the range of possible targets. 76 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:30,200 But you also need to know that personal protection at that time 77 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,240 was not as developed and well structured as it is today. 78 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,960 My father had little protection. 79 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,720 He was in a car without escort protection. 80 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:45,800 His car wasn't armoured. 81 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:52,600 They had no chance as fifteen shots were fired from a semi-automatic rifle. 82 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,280 Buback's murderers had reconnoitred his route and got hold of a motorbike, 83 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,840 a brand new Suzuki that had only just come onto the market. 84 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,040 On the day of the attack two people were on the motorbike which, 85 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:12,480 as camouflage, of all things, was decorated with stickers of the German flag and eagle. 86 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,480 So the car was waiting at the traffic lights. 87 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:23,320 When the lights went green his official car moved off, 88 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:29,720 the two perpetrators on the motorbike must have been close by and they shot into the car. 89 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:35,440 The attackers then rode off and I suspect that my father was already dead. 90 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:42,520 For the first time the RAF had targeted and murdered an important representative of the state 91 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,640 and his accompanying staff. 92 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:50,920 In that phase the RAF acted without restraint and no longer saw chance of a pardon. 93 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:57,480 They didn't have a problem with the fact that people could be killed who were completely innocent 94 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:03,520 or bore no responsibility from the RAF's own perspective. 95 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:10,600 'Anyone with information about a silver-grey Alfa Romeo... 96 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:18,880 or about people who were seen with this car should come forward.' 97 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,320 There were arrests and convictions, 98 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:29,040 but it remains unclear who sat on the motorbike and who fired the fatal shots. 99 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:42,520 What I would have liked was for a swift and high-quality investigation to have taken place, 100 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:49,640 there being no better memorial to an Attorney General and his companions 101 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,160 than the solving of their murder case. 102 00:08:53,080 --> 00:09:01,560 7 April 1977 is the very day that the student Silke Maier-Witt joined the RAF. 103 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:09,440 I said to myself at some point that Buback has been shot today 104 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:14,040 [Silke Maier-Witt. Born in 1950 in Nagold. Studied Medicine in Hamburg. Joined the RAF in April 1977.] 105 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:27,440 I already understood that they were rather proud and satisfied about this. 106 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:38,320 That's how I took it all, too. I am still ashamed of this. 107 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:47,360 On that day I knew very well what I was getting myself into. 108 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:53,600 Silke Maier-Witt had been active on behalf of the prisoners for years. 109 00:09:53,640 --> 00:10:00,840 At the age of 27 she decided to go into the underground herself and join the fight. 109 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:12,800 I always thought that there was something false about being in that whole left-wing scene and only fighting with words and not living that fight. 110 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:20,320 It was an aspiration to total commitment. 111 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:28,400 That is what I most admired about the RAF; 112 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:38,360 putting your life on the line to achieve change. 113 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:46,480 Silke Maier-Witt had met RAF members Susanne Albrecht and Karl-Heinz Dellwo at demonstrations in Hamburg. 114 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:52,840 In 1975 Dellwo took part in the bloody occupation of the West German embassy in Stockholm 115 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,760 which aimed to force the release of Baader, Ensslin and others. 116 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,200 The plan was a dramatic failure. 117 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:06,240 Two years later Susanne Albrecht also took part in a spectacular liberation attempt. 118 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:12,280 On 30 July 1977 Albrecht visited the Ponto family who were family friends. 119 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,080 Her parents had let them know in advance. 120 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:22,680 The head of the Dresdner Bank, Jürgen Ponto, knew that his friends' daughter had left-wing sympathies. 121 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,280 He had no idea that she had links with the RAF. 122 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,760 To his surprise she bought two young companions with her. 123 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:34,440 They were the RAF terrorists Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Chrisitian Klar. 124 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,800 Ponto allowed them into the house, too. 125 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,760 The plan was to kidnap Ponto, not to murder him, 126 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:51,600 but he resisted and shots were fired by those who were at this house in Oberursel. 127 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:54,880 Jürgen Ponto died that day. 128 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,480 Susanne Albrecht went into the underground. 129 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,360 Ponto came from a Hamburg merchant family. 130 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,600 After the war he pursued a career with the Dresdner Bank and eventually became its head. 131 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,760 Jürgen Ponto. Born in 1923 in Bad Nauheim. Studied Law at Gottingen. Head of the Dresdner Bank from 1969. Married. Two children.] 132 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:17,120 A few days after the murder over 4,000 bank employees marched through Hamburg to express their sympathy. 133 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,320 Just a month later the RAF struck again. 134 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,920 This time the target of the terrorists was Hanns Martin Shleyer. 135 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:33,000 [Hanns Martin Schleyer. Born in 1915 in Offenburg. Joined the SS in 1933.] His past in the SS, his career with Daimler-Benz and his commitment to the employers' side 136 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:37,360 [Career with Daimler-Benz from 1951. 1977 President of the BDA (Employers' confederation) and BDI (Federation of German Industries).] were, in the eyes of the terrorists, grounds enough for an attack. 137 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:45,080 Before the kidnapping actually happened we had already predicted that the next one would be Hanns Martin Schleyer. 138 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:54,040 We, I did it myself, informed the State Criminal Police (LKA) in Stuttgart that the next attack would be against Schleyer. 139 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:59,600 Thereupon personal protection was organised for Schleyer. 140 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,440 Nonetheless, I was surprised that Schleyer still had the use of the Mercedes 141 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:08,440 and had not been given an armour-plated vehicle. 140 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:14,680 In 1977 Schleyer was one of the Republic's most influential figures in the economic sphere. 141 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:19,040 He was a friend of politicians like Franz Josef Strauss and Helmut Kohl. 142 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:28,480 [Silke Maier-Witt. Former RAF member.] It was clear then that Schleyer should be kidnapped. 143 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,320 The way it would be done was clear, too. 144 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:36,400 It wasn't yet clear who would do that. 145 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:45,960 [Gerhard Baum. Federal Interior Minister 1978-1982.] All of us who were concerned with security issues knew that Schleyer was the most endangered man in the Republic. 146 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:52,040 At a meeting of the Internal Affairs Committee the security services said that they feared an attack on Schleyer. 147 00:13:52,080 --> 00:14:00,200 And what is so appalling is that such a highly- protected man was basically unprotected. 148 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:06,600 [Television News. 5 September 1977.] This evening an attack has been carried out in Cologne on Hanns Martin Schleyer, 149 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,600 the head of the German Employers' Confederation. 150 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:19,120 I was appalled, I have to say, and I still am when I see the pictures today. 151 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,920 The fact that everyone was shot who was there. 152 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:31,480 But I couldn't afford to have any doubts any more. 153 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:33,680 Not in that situation. 154 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,560 Silke Maier-Witt had reconnoitred Schleyer's route. 155 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,880 She wasn't present for the attack itself. 151 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,080 Schleyer's limousine was stopped by the terrorists. 152 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,600 The escort vehicle with the bodyguards moved off. 153 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,000 The RAF squad immediately opened fire. 154 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,120 The policeman Reinhold Brändle was hit 60 times. 155 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:01,160 Officers Roland Pieler and Helmut Ulmer died with him. 156 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,280 Also Schleyer's driver Hans Marcisz. 157 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,920 [Hans-Jochen Vogel. Present himself at the crime scene.] And I will never forget that picture. 158 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:16,120 The bodies of three escort officers and the driver lay there covered with tarpaulins, 159 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:22,200 murdered by the RAF assassins, like bits of wood. 160 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:39,920 And I must say that there the RAF activists' sheer contempt for other people became clear to me in the starkest of ways. 161 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,080 Amazingly Hanns Schleyer was unhurt. 162 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:50,320 He was put into a VW camper van, drugged with an injection and driven to western Cologne 163 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:56,560 where the RAF had a safe house at Wiener Weg 1b. 164 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,560 In the underground carpark they changed vehicles. 165 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,720 Schleyer was put in the boot of a Mercedes. 166 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,960 The next hiding place was 20 kms away in Erftstadt-Liblar. 167 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:20,920 The terrorists had rented a flat in the tower block Zum Renngraben 8. 168 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:28,800 Now they demanded the release of Baader, Ensslin and others in exchange for Hanns Martin Schleyer. 169 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:37,040 [Helmut Schmidt. Television address. 5 September 1977:] The news of the murderous attack on Hanns Martin Schleyer and the officers and staff accompanying him 170 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:38,960 leaves me deeply saddened. 171 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:44,680 Just as with the murder of Jürgen Ponto only a few weeks ago. 172 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:50,600 Just as with the murders of Buback, Wuster and Göbel. 173 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:56,840 As I speak to you the perpetrators will certainly also be linstening somewhere. 174 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:02,760 You may at this moment feel a triumphant sense of power. 175 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,520 But you should be under no illusions. 175 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:11,040 In the long term terrorism has no chance 176 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:17,640 because it is not just the will of the organs of state that stand against terrorism 177 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:19,960 but also the will of the whole nation. 178 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:21,600 FEDERAL CHANCELLERY 179 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,800 Helmut Schmidt called together a Crisis Committee including leaders of all the parliamentary parties. 180 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,000 The chancellor wanted consensus and swift action. 181 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:36,480 And one thing was clear from the beginning: Schleyer would not be exchanged for RAF prisoners. 182 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:42,080 [Han Jochen Vogel. Federal Justice Minister 1974-81.] It is not that we said that we would do nothing. 183 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:48,560 Right from the start we did everything we could think of. 184 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:59,480 We would try to free him but that means of freeing him was ruled out. 185 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,880 Two years earlier the government had taken a different approach. 186 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:09,880 In February 1975 Peter Lorenz had been kidnapped close to his house in Berlin. 187 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:15,080 At the time he was the CDU's lead candidate in the elections to the Berlin assembly. 188 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:20,640 Notwithstanding an intensive search operation, the perpetrators and their hostage could not be found. 189 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,280 The kidnappers demanded the release of left-wing terrorists 190 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,640 and the government did, indeed, agree to an exchange. 191 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,840 [Peter Lorenz- Prisoner] 192 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:39,160 Verena Becker and four other prisoners were flown out to South Yemen 193 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:41,640 and then Lorenz was freed. 194 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:47,720 The freed prisoners would be involved in further murders and attacks. 195 00:18:51,680 --> 00:19:00,160 [Gerhard Baum. Federal Interior Minister 1978-1982.] After the experience with the release of perpetrators in response to the Lorenz kidnapping it was clear 196 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,840 that could be no release of these highly dangerous people in Stammheim. 196 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,000 The government had no doubts about this. 197 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:14,880 Shortly after Schleyer's kidnapping the RAF prisoners in Stammheim were cut off from all contacts. 198 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:20,160 It was feared that the terrorists might be able to control Schleyer's fate from within the prison. 199 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,640 The prisoners were kept as far away from each other as possible. 200 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,640 Baader was moved to cell 719, 201 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,160 Gudrun Ensslin was opposite him, 202 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:34,960 at the other end were Jan-Carl Raspe and Irmgard Möller. 203 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,080 The RAF prisoners could no longer see each other, 204 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:42,440 they got no newspapers and they had to give up their radios and televisions. 205 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,400 Visits from their lawyers were cancelled. 206 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:50,400 The cells doors were temporarily sound-proofed. 207 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:57,320 [Hans Nusser. Former director of Stammheim prison.] We made this ridiculous attempt to pile mattresses in front of the doors 208 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:02,000 but really at night prisons are never quiet. 209 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:09,280 Someone is always shouting out in the vicinity and the short distance between windows means that it doesn't take much. 210 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,160 It can't be avoided. 211 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:19,480 For our part we were of the opinion that it was more important to prevent contacts with the outside 212 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:23,560 than to prevent contacts between the people. 213 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:29,480 Meanwhile the BKA searched for the kidnappers' hide-out. 214 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:36,080 We were sure that we would find the place where Schleyer was hidden. 215 00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:43,640 With all the mechanisms, all the analysis and all the measures of coordination that we had built up. 216 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:54,440 Relatively quickly we could give out the information that in the first instance, at least, Schleyer was kept in greater Cologne. 217 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,080 The BKA was right. 218 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:01,080 Months after the kidnapping the hiding place was discovered. 219 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:06,200 Hanns Martin Schleyer was held in this apartment for ten days. 220 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:12,600 The terrorists had sound-proofed a wall cupboard with foam in the event that Schleyer should try to attract attention. 221 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,400 It was in this apartment that the first blackmail video was filmed. 222 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:26,560 [Recording by the kidnappers. 7 September 1977] Should you decide to negotiate for my release, 223 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:40,520 then I would implore you not to delay and especially to take no measures that might end in a 'military solution' 224 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,880 as from all my observations I am convinced that this would inevitably lead to my death. 225 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,360 The kidnappers interrogated Schleyer for hours in the apartment. 226 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,520 They talked to him about his past and his role in the system. 227 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,360 They called it a 'people's court'. 228 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,840 The interrogations were recorded and typed up by Silke Maier-Witt. 229 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:06,440 The people who asked the questions, including Boock and others, 230 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:17,320 did so as if they were imagining the wicked capitalist. 231 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:28,000 The questions made it clear how little idea the questioners had of the interrelationships. 232 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:34,360 In part I found it embarrassing how dumb the questions were 233 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:42,360 and how Schleyer could deal with them with such ease. 234 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:47,520 Horst Herold, the BKA president, was confident that Schleyer could be freed. 235 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,880 He had faith in the cross-referencing of databases. 236 00:22:52,200 --> 00:23:00,640 [Hans-Jochen Vogel Federal Justice Minister 1974-81] Herold was excellent in the position that he occupied 237 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,680 and he played a very positive role. 238 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:11,720 And he had good grounds for saying that there was more than a 50% chance 239 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,440 that we would find him. 240 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,400 The BKA conducted a comprehensive search operation. 241 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:24,960 Above all young drivers aged between 20 and 35 were stopped and searched. 242 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:30,800 In the Cologne area the details of electricity customers were matched against residency registration lists. 243 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,440 Horst Herold counted on computer analysis 244 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:39,320 because the terrorists followed certain patterns which could be clearly defined. 245 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,920 [Gerhard Baum. Federal Interior. Minister 1978-1982] He became the central figure. 246 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,160 They only listened to him. Schmidt listened to him. 247 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:52,440 And so there really was the danger, and this partially happened, 248 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:57,400 that the BKA might make itself independent. 249 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,640 The BKA checked the mail. 250 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,240 As the kidnappers sent their demands to Germany from Paris, 251 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,800 officers checked that letter traffic. 252 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:19,440 At the same time there were identity checks in all trains running between Cologne and Paris. 253 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:24,560 The police still suspected that Schleyer and his kidnappers were in the Cologne area. 254 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,640 They searched for anonymous tower blocks with underground parking. 255 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,800 The characteristics of the real hiding place were an exact match with the predicted pattern. 256 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:39,440 [Gerhard Baum. Federal Interior Minister 1978-1982.] Everything about that tower block matched; paying the rent in cash, underground garage. 257 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:48,320 And twice the local police sent reports to Cologne or Düsseldorf saying that they suspected he was there. 258 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,040 The special task force was much too late in following up the lead. 259 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:57,080 Within the welter of information that one decisive piece was overlooked for too long. 260 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,920 We could, in all probability, have rescued Schleyer. 261 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,080 But it didn't happen 262 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:09,560 and that was a terrible blow for the security services. 263 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:16,960 Schleyer was in the hands of the terrorists for weeks without the BKA tracking them down. 264 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:23,480 They would never again get as close to the kidnapping while Schleyer was still alive as they did in Erftstadt-Liblar. 265 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:34,240 [Rainer Hofmeyer, former Head of the Department for Left-Wing Terrorism, BKA.] An absolute tragedy. The whole BKA system, all the analysis, all the measures, 266 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:39,400 was geared up towards a successful rescue of Schleyer. 267 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,160 And the measures worked. 268 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,840 The information was there on the table. 269 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,760 It just wasn't properly processed. 270 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:55,040 On the Crisis Committee the Chancellor also asked for exotic ideas for measures that might rescue Schleyer, 271 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,520 amongst these was the idea of threatening to shoot the RAF prisoners. 272 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:05,800 [Gerhard Baum. Federal Interior Minister 1978-1982.] Then the politicians started to think the unthinkable. 273 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,280 They talked themselves into a war footing, 274 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,800 into an emergency situation that never existed, 275 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:19,600 the stability of our democracy was never in danger. 276 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:26,400 Today we know that the government listened in on the RAF prisoners. 277 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,920 This was a breach of the constitution. 278 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:44,440 [Hans-Jochen Vogel. Federal Justice Minister 1974-81.] Listening in on people who are suspected of developing further criminal activity from within prison in order to stop 279 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:51,680 that activity was not extraordinary in my view. 280 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:07,120 [Rainer Hofmeyer, former Head of the Department for Left-Wing Terrorism, BKA.] In the period when Schleyer was still being held somewhere as the hostage of the RAF, 281 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:20,080 not to have done everything necessary in order to find out what the next step of the RAF might be would have been negligent. 282 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:29,560 And in weighing up Schleyer's life against a prisoner's right to privacy, 283 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,640 I'd say the decision is very clear. 284 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:41,720 On 8 October 1977 Schleyer had already been in the hands of the kidnappers for four weeks. 285 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,840 Meanwhile it had become clear to the RAF terrorists and to Schleyer himself 286 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,520 that the Federal Government did not want a prisoner exchange. 287 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:56,760 [Recording by the kidnappers. 8 October 1977.] Therefore a decision from the federal government, that I asked for on the first day, is an urgent necessity. 288 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:08,520 It is all the more necessary as I am convinced that my kidnappers will not hold back for much longer. 289 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:16,240 One cannot doubt their resolve after the murders of Buback and Ponto. 290 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:24,480 To increase the pressure on the Government Brigitte Mohnhaupt and other RAF terrorists flew to the Near East 291 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:30,000 where they consulted a PFLP terror expert, Wadie Haddad, 292 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:35,280 formerly a pediatrician and a KGB agent with good links to the Stasi. 293 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,280 One can see through these connections 294 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,880 that there really was more than just a tense East-West relationship here; 295 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:50,160 there were concrete actions, measures of support, cooperation etc. 296 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:55,080 And Wadie Haddad and the KGB were surely at the heart of this. 297 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,280 It speaks volumes that Wadie was the one who gave the orders 298 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,040 and that he was the main driving force in the cooperation with the RAF. 299 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,240 Wadie Haddad suggested two alternatives to the German terrorists; 300 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:09,960 taking hostages in an embassy 301 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,040 or hijacking an aircraft. 302 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,360 From the point of view of the RAF members who went out there 303 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:23,080 this was the only chance left of getting the prisoners. Baader and co, out of jail. 304 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,680 They still had reservations about hijacking an aircraft; 305 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,560 they had discussed it earlier and decided that they would not do it because it would be an attack on the people. 306 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:37,360 And, although they didn't have a format vote, they discussed it and in the end they were all in agreement 307 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,160 that this hijacking should take place. 308 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:46,400 On the 13 October 1977 four Palestinians hijacking the Lufthansa airliner the 'Landshut'. 309 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:52,640 On board were five crew and eighty-two tourists on their way from Mallorca to Frankfurt. 310 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:58,560 [Jürgen Fietor, co-pilot of the Landshut.] They tore the door open, rushed into the cockpit, held a gun to Jürgen Schumann's head, 311 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,800 kicked me in the ribs...'out, out, out, out, out'. 312 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:06,320 And so off I went and I knew straightaway what was happening. 313 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,960 In Bonn the Crisis Committee met. 314 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:14,920 Helmut Schmidt was clear in his own mind that there would be no release of eleven German terrorists as was being demanded. 315 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:21,120 Taking the Landshut passengers hostage was the last hope for the RAF that their demands could still be pushed through. 316 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:29,200 [Silke Maier-Witt, former RAF member.] When this plane was hijacked I had to reassess things, 317 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:36,840 feeling that, within the RAF framework, this could not be ideologically justified. 318 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,840 Things were very desperate. 319 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,160 The Landshut landed in Rome to refuel. 320 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,800 The pilot Jürgen Schumann and co-pilot Jürgen Fietor were in the cockpit. 321 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:54,200 The hijacker was the 23 year old Palestinian Zohair Akache. 322 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,640 He called himself 'Captain Mahmud'. 323 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:06,040 [Jürgen Fietor, co-pilot of the Landshut.] Of course, guns and a hand grenade make for a strong argument, don't they? 324 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:14,000 Nonetheless the way he did everything to intimidate people, threatening them with execution. 325 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,520 Imagine. 326 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:24,240 He had a strange way of counting: '0,0,1,0,1,1,2,3. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 you will be shot'. 327 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:29,240 What a night those people had. Most of them were women. 328 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,800 So he was good 329 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,760 in his devilish way. 330 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:39,200 The plane took off again. 331 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,440 It went over Cyprus heading for Dubai. 332 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,720 And Captain Mahmud terrorised the passengers. 333 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:50,720 [Gabriele von Lutzau in 1980. Landshut stewardess.] Helpless anger. You sit there and you want to do something. 334 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,440 There are people you had comforted earlier, 335 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,280 telling them that it would be alright. 336 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,400 And you see them humiliated, kicked, belittled 337 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:05,080 and you sit there completely helpless, wanting to jump up. 338 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:11,440 You want to hold the pistol yourself at his head. 339 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,800 You want to defend yourself. But you can't 340 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,040 Soon the Landshut had to land again. 341 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:23,280 In Dubai the defence minister imposed conditions on the hijackers. 342 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:29,000 The plane would only be refueled after the release of the women and children. 343 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,200 Captain Mahmud wouldn't discuss it. 344 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,040 Finally the fuel completely ran out. 345 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,960 The ventilation and air conditioning stopped working. 346 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:42,680 [Jürgen Fietor, co-pilot of the Landshut.] The plane sat there for the whole day in the Dubai sun. 347 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:44,120 It was unbearable. 348 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,720 I have previously said it hit 60 degrees, perhaps. 349 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,200 It was like a sauna. People were passing out. 350 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:56,040 Then he allowed the door to be opened and those in the worst state to come to the front to get a bit of fresh air. 351 00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:01,720 After three days of negotiations the hijackers radioed a final ultimatum: 352 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:07,800 "The plane's captain a 24 year old man and the 19 year old Diana 353 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,160 "will be executed if there is no refueling by 9 o'clock." 354 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:19,320 "No one can approach the aircraft to collect the bodies." 355 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:23,120 Minister Al Maktoum, gave way. 356 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,920 The plane was refueled and could be restarted. 357 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:35,600 [Hannelore Brauchart 1980. Chief stewardess of the Landshut.] At first I thought that, for the love of God, after 72 hours in Dubai something must now happen. 358 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,000 At least something, whatever, in the news. 359 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:46,000 And then we flew off and I thought we must be going to some place where we could be exchanged without disturbance 360 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,960 because there was no question in my mind there would be an exchange. 361 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:58,320 You can't just abandon 90 people in order to keep a few terrorists in jail. 362 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:00,320 That's how I saw things. 363 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,360 For the Federal Government an exchange remained unthinkable. 364 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:13,800 [Hans-Crisitan Ströbele. Andreas Baader's lawyer.] Naturally I thought about what I could do to find a way out of this situation. 365 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:19,960 But we had no way of making contact with the prisoners. 366 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:29,320 I tried to bring about contact on the grounds that I had known my clients well for many years. 367 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:39,440 I wanted to try to consider somehow a way out with the prisoners. 368 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,840 But it didn't happen. 369 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,680 The Federal Government made a pretence of going along with the demands of the Landshut hijackers. 370 00:34:46,720 --> 00:34:51,120 The prisoners were asked if they would agree to be flown out to Somalia. 371 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:53,440 'Yes' wrote Gudrun Ensslin. 372 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,200 And Andreas Baader gave his conditional agreement, too. 373 00:34:56,240 --> 00:34:58,640 [Handwriting] 'only if the squad has really specified Somalia' 374 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:02,040 [Hans Nusser. Former director of Stammheim prison.] Of course we were quite curious, too, as to where all this was going. 375 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:07,080 And concrete steps were being taken. During the night passports were given out amongst other things. 376 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:08,960 We didn't know. 377 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:15,200 Would there be an exchange of prisoners? Would they be flown out somewhere towards Palestine or not? 378 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:22,240 Our expectation was that it would not happen, but it was for the Constitutional Court to decide. 379 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:24,360 None of us knew. 380 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,600 Above all the Federal Government wanted to buy time. 381 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:35,000 Officers from the elite GSG9 unit followed the Landshut in their own plane. 382 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,880 In Bonn Schmidt met relatives of the hostages. 383 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,680 [Child's sign. 'Mr Chancellor! I want my mummy back!'] I'll say to him. Why are you spending so long in meetings? 384 00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:48,320 Who around your Crisis Committee table is representing the hostages? 385 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:55,400 All interests are represented but there has been no one representing the interests of the people in the plane. 386 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,680 The family members demanded an exchange of the terrorists for the hostages. 387 00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:04,360 An option that was no longer being discussed. 388 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:14,440 [Gerhard Baum. Federal Interior Minister 1978-1982] I think that in those days when the plane had been hijacked we didn't think about that. 389 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:20,880 We devoted all our energies to getting the hijackers. 390 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:29,320 We were intent on finding a way of getting the plane into our own hands. 391 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:34,560 In parallel the search went on for the Schleyer hiding place. 392 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:40,520 Officials were clear that the Landshut hijackers and Schleyer's kidnappers were closely connected. 393 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:44,760 The RAF tried to increase the pressure with a further video message. 394 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:51,240 I have been a prisoner of the terrorists for five and half weeks. 395 00:36:51,280 --> 00:37:00,760 All just because I have been an advocate for this state and its freedom and democracy for many years. 396 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:08,760 Sometimes a statement comes from someone with political responsibility that is like a slur on that activity. 397 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:14,240 Justice Minister Hans-Jochen Vogel was in daily contact with Schleyer's family. 398 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:18,240 Frustrated with politics, they went public. 399 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:24,080 [Hans-Jochen Vogel. Federal Justice Minister 1974-1981] Yes, that wasn't easy. 400 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,720 Hanns-Eberhard Schleyer was naturally of the opinion 401 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:32,800 that we should go along with the demands and save the life of his father. 402 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:38,640 Schleyer's son went to the Constitutional Court in order to force an exchange for his father. 403 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:40,680 A difficult decision. 404 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:42,120 What counted for more? 405 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,880 Schleyer's life that was under actual threat 406 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:50,400 or the security of the general public which would be put in danger by a release of the terrorists? 407 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:57,840 In the name of the people the following judgement is announced on this matter; 408 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:03,440 the request for the granting of a temporary injunction is denied. 409 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:08,200 The Federal Government won the case and with that it got a free hand. 410 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:14,360 In the meantime after an odyssey of several days the Landshut came to Aden in South Yemen. 411 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:19,320 After an emergency landing in the desert sands captain Schumann checked the engines. 412 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:24,880 For a while he disappeared and then he went back into the Boeing. 413 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:34,120 [Jürgen Fietor, co-pilot of the Landshut.] Deathly silence in the plane and then we noticed something was happening. We felt movement. 414 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:37,760 Schumann came along the central aisle, 415 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,880 he had to kneel in front of Mahmud. 416 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,840 Mahmud stood here and his three people behind. 417 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:51,000 One of them, one of the two women, was chewing an apple as if to say 'we shoot people every day'. 418 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:56,880 And Mahmud said 'Are you guilty or not guilty? 419 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:02,960 And Jürgen said 'yes captain' 'Are you guilty or not guilty? Yes captain, I...'. And that was it. 420 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,560 And the third time he shot him. 421 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:07,800 He was dead. 422 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,440 [Jürgen Schumann. Born in 1940 in Colditz. Starfighter pilot. Lufthansa pilot from 1968. Married, two sons.] Jürgen Schumann died at the age of 37. 423 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,520 [Jürgen Schumann. Born in 1940 in Colditz. Starfighter pilot. Lufthansa pilot from 1968. Married, two sons.] In the air force he had started his career as a Starfighter pilot. 424 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,720 Really a much more dangerous job than his later work for Lufthansa. 425 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,840 Now co-pilot Jürgen Fietor had to fly the plane. 426 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:29,520 Communist South Yemen wanted nothing to do with the hijackers. 427 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,320 Now they went to Mogadishu in Somalia. 428 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:36,840 Jürgen Schumann's body was removed from the plane using an emergency chute. 429 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:45,800 [Gabriele von Lutzau in 1980 Landshut stewardess.] It was a relief that the body was removed. 430 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:53,960 But I couldn't look, I wanted to push it all as far away from me as possible. 431 00:39:54,600 --> 00:40:01,560 A lot of people didn't look. I think most didn't look. Many turned away and put an arm around one another. 432 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,000 And that is what I did, too. 433 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:12,360 Then we were tied up with stockings or with cord. 434 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,440 They forced us into the seats and strapped us in. 435 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:25,320 And then they got the duty-free schnapps, that's to say alcohol. It had all been moved with the cabin luggage up into first class. 436 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:31,920 They opened it and poured it over us to aid combustion. 437 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:40,000 And Mahmud placed explosives with fuses by the dividing partition between economy and first class. 438 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:44,480 Captain Mahmud was threatening to blow up the whole plane 439 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,760 and the GSG9 was not yet ready to go into action. 440 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:54,280 Envoy Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski negotiated with the hijackers and the Somalis 441 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,720 and managed to get the ultimatum extended. 442 00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:06,640 [Hans-Jochen Voget. Federal Justice Minister 1974-81.] And you have to think now that it was about the lives of ninety people; 443 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:13,240 the plane's passengers and crew. 444 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:23,480 The incredibly difficult decision to attempt a rescue fell mostly to Helmut Schmidt. 445 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:33,400 Today we know that it could have meant ninety dead. 446 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,960 This was the first ever operation by the GSG9. 447 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,720 The unit was well trained and highly motivated, 448 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:45,560 but no one could be sure how the storming of the plane would go. 449 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,520 It really was on a knife edge. 450 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:54,040 It was incredibly risky. 451 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:58,840 In Bonn the Crisis Committee met and followed the events far away in Mogadishu. 452 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:03,920 Operation Feuerzauber (Magic Fire) began at five minutes to midnight. 453 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:11,600 [Hans-Jochen Vogel. Federal Justice Minister 1974-81.] Of course we kept waiting for news from Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski 454 00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:13,920 as to how things were going. 455 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:17,400 We knew the operation had started. 456 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:33,200 [Jürgen Fietor, co-pilot of the Landshut.] A terrible noise and the nicest thing apart from the shots-German voices. 457 00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:39,240 'Keep your hands down! Where are the bastards? We'll get you out! Heads down! Where are the bastards? Keep quiet!' 458 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:44,200 And then shots were fired and the shooting slowly stopped. 459 00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:46,520 And then I heard that evacuation was under way. 460 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:49,640 'Get out! Get out! Quick! Heads down! Get out!' 461 00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:54,040 All of the hostages survived. 462 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,200 Most were completely exhausted. 463 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:59,120 Medics looked after them in the airport. 464 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,000 Three of the hijackers were killed. 465 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:09,960 The wounded Souhaila Andrawes gave the victory sign as she was taken away. 466 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:14,920 Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski notified the Crisis Committee back in Bonn. 467 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:24,960 [Hans-Jochen Vogel. Federal Minister 1974-81.] And then Helmut Schmidt was called and Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski uttered the famous words 468 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,280 'The work is done.' 469 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:34,920 Meaning that the job had been successfully accomplished. 470 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:41,880 That was the only time that I have ever seen tears in Helmut Schmidt's eyes. 471 00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:47,840 The news of the storming of the Landshut reached the RAF terrorists in Stammheim. 472 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:55,040 That same night Baader, Ensslin and Raspe took their own lives in their cells on the Seventh Floor. 473 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:04,400 [Hans-Christian Ströbele. Andreas Baader's lawyer.] I still say today that there is a great mystery about this. 474 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:09,160 What exactly happened? Who was involved? 475 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:11,200 Who knew about it? 476 00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:12,880 It all needs to be cleared up. 477 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:19,960 A day later Hans Martin Schleyer was found shot dead in the boot of a car. 478 00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:23,760 This was the end of the 'German Autumn'. 479 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:28,200 It was far from the end of the story of the RAF. 480 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:34,360 Subtitles extracted by gianni zym