Wolfgang Grams
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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.
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His Life
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 demonstrtated 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.
His death in Bad Kleinen
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. 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."
The autopsy supported this statement in that the gunshot wound to his head was fired at point blank range.
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."
External influence
Grams was portrayed in the documentary "Black Box BRD."
The punk rock band WIZO wrote a song about the incident entitled "Kopfschuß."
External links
- Time Magazine story from 8-23-93 (http://www.specwarnet.com/europe/gsg9oops.htm)
- 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)de:Wolfgang Grams