Wolfgang Grams

Wolfgang Grams (March 6, 1953 - June 27, 1993) was a member of the German leftwing militant group Red Army Faction. He committed suicide during a botched police attempt to arrest him. The ensuing uncertainty whether he had been executed by a policeman caused a scandal in Germany that resulted in the resignation of the German Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters and the sacking of the Chief Federal Prosecutor Alexander von Stahl.

Life

Wolfgang Grams was born in Wiesbaden, Germany. His parents, Werner and Ruth Grams, were expelled from the east. Werner Grams volunteered for service in the Waffen-SS [From the film "Black Box BRD" ] . They had another son, Rainer.

During Grams' younger years, his family lived near the Wiesbaden/Erbenheim Air Base, and he demonstrated against the Vietnam War.

While living in a commune, he was given the nickname "Gaks". After the arrest of Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin, he started visiting terrorists in jail. He found the conditions of solitary confinement inhumane.

Grams name was found in a note book by a RAF terrorist who was killed during an arrest attempt. He was kept in custody for 153 days, but was given remuneration in 1980. He then met Birgit Hogefeld, and they began dating and moved in together.

On February 15, 1987, the "Tagesschau" on ARD ran a bulletin for Grams and Hogefeld. He was described as 180 cm tall and with blue green eyes and a striking dark skin discoloration on his face. From 1984 on he lived underground. Only in the Autumn of 1990 did he come home to meet with his parents in Taunus.

New DNA evidence hints at Gram's participation in the killing of Detlev Karsten Rohwedder in 1991.

Death

On June 27, 1993, members of the GSG 9 were to arrest Grams and Hogefeld at the train station in Bad Kleinen. During the process of the arrest, he managed to pull a gun and shoot two officers, succeeding in killing one, Michael Newrzella. Officers were quoted as saying they saw Grams "suddenly fall backward" off of the station platform and onto the track. Either before or after he fell, he shot himself in the head. He was taken to the Medizinische Universität zu Lübeck by helicopter where he died from his wounds a few hours later.

Shortly after the operation there were allegations that Grams had not shot himself but was shot in the head from close distance by a police officer. The Staatsanwaltschaft Schwerin investigated these allegations and concluded in January 1994 that they were incorrect. Grams' parents challenged this conclusion in court, but it was upheld by five different courts, including the European Court of Human Rights in 1999.cite book | last = Peters | first = Butz | title = Tödlicher Irrtum | publisher = Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag | location = Frankfurt am Main | year = 2007 | language = German | pages = pp. 694 - 701 | isbn = 9783596172658 ]

Interior Minister Rudolf Seiters took responsibility for the poor conducting and postprocessing of the operation and resigned in July of the year, as well as Chief Federal Prosecutor, Alexander von Stahl. Helmut Kohl paid a visit to the unit, praising Newrzella and discouraged "attempts to make a martyr of his murderer."

External influence

*Grams was portrayed in the documentary "Black Box BRD".
*The punk rock band WIZO wrote a song about the incident entitled "Kopfschuß" ("head-shot").

References

External links

*GSG 9 Action in Bad Kleinen (German Wikipedia)