Wolfgang Grams
Wolfgang Grams (
March 6,
1953 -
June 27,
1993) was a member of the terrorist group
Red Army Faction. His death in a train station was a scandal that caused the end of the careers of several
German politicians.
His parents, Werner and Ruth Grams, were refugees from the east. Werner volunteered for service in the
Waffen-SS. Wolfgang was born in
Wiesbaden,
Germany, and also had a brother, Rainer.
In his 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
political prisoners in jail. He found the conditions of solitary confinement inhumane. His then girlfriend was
Roswitha Beith.
Wolfgang was jailed for 152 days without wrongdoing, 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 that point on, he lived underground. Only in the Autumn of
1990 did he come home to meet with his parents in
Taunus.
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. According to the official story, he then proceeded to commit suicide. Officers were quoted as saying they saw Grams "suddenly fall backward" off of the station platform and onto the track. As Grams lay dying on the ties, medical personnel attempted to save him, but he died from a headwound while on the train tracks.
There are a number of discrepancies in the official version of the story which are explained by recreating the occurrence as an execution style murder by the police in revenge for Newrzella's murder. Two people from the train station witnessed the execution.
:
"Two policemen walked up to Grams, who was lying motionless. One bent over and shot him several times from close up. Then the second officer shot at Grams, but more at his stomach and legs. He shot several times."It was officially declared that Grams did not commit suicide and that there were attempts by the authorities to cover the real story up. Interior Minister
Rudolf Seiters took responsibility and resigned in July of the year, as well as Chief Federal Prosecuter,
Alexander von Stahl.
Helmut Kohl paid a visit to the unit, praising Newrzella and discouraged "attempts to make a martyr of his murderer."
Grams was portrayed in the documentary "
Black Box BRD."
The
punk rock band
WIZO wrote a song about the incident entitled
"Kopfschuß."
*
Time Magazine story from 8-23-93*http://www.nadir.org/nadir/archiv/Repression/bad_kleinen/ (in German)
*http://saturn.spaceports.com/~wolfhart/ssd.htm (in German)
*http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/kino/7714/1.html (in German)
