Josef Bachmann

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Josef Erwin Bachmann (born October 12, 1944 in Reichenbach im Vogtland , † February 24, 1970 ) was a German right-wing extremist assassin. He shot on April 11, 1968 in West Berlin on Rudi Dutschke , a leader of the student protest movement . Dutschke survived seriously injured and with permanent disabilities. Bachmann later committed in prison suicide . For a long time he was considered a lone perpetrator motivated by right-wing extremist ideas, until connections to the right-wing extremist political scene became known in 2009.

Life

youth

Bachmann spent a total of about two years in hospitals up to the age of 23, partly because he was admitted with open pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of four . He was a bad student. His father showed no interest in him. An uncle was a "surrogate father", but came because of political agitation in a DDR - prison , as he spread his opinion of politicians in public. The family left the GDR in 1956 and moved to an aunt in the Ruhr area .

Bachmann attended an auxiliary school there because of his poor academic performance , but he had to leave it early. After a failed professional training, he worked as an unskilled worker, often changing jobs. Bachmann and a friend committed several break-ins. After unsuccessful attempts to start a new life in France, he returned to Germany. In Munich he last worked as an ironworker and house painter, but resigned after just one week on April 8, 1968. On April 10, 1968, he took the interzonal train to Berlin in the evening .

Assassination attempt on Rudi Dutschke

Rudi Dutschke's bicycle with briefcase at the site of the attack
Two projectiles removed from Dutschke's cheek and shoulder

On April 11, 1968, Bachmann, armed with two pistols, was waiting for Rudi Dutschke near the SDS office on Kurfürstendamm . He cursed him as a “dirty communist pig” and fired three shots at Dutschke. After his arrest, he stated:

“To my regret, I would like to state that Dutschke is still alive. I could have bought a submachine gun . If I had the money, I would have cut Dutschke. "

He was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted murder. Dutschke was seriously injured by two shots in the head and barely survived the attack. Rudi Dutschke had an epileptic attack on December 24, 1979 (a late consequence of the head injuries sustained in the assassination attempt) and drowned in his bath tub at home.

A right-wing extremist background was assumed for Bachmann's murder motive, as he carried an article in the Deutsche National-Zeitung (today's name National-Zeitung ) with him during the assassination attempt . There were five photos of Dutschke arranged as a profile with the heading: “Stop Dutschke now! Otherwise there will be civil war ”. Particularly in the left-wing political spectrum, a share of responsibility was seen also in the Bild newspaper , which in the time before the attack had massively agitated against the 68 movement (among other things, it called for the "ringleaders" to be "seized"). For many, he has become a symbol of the Bild-Zeitung's influence on the public. On March 4, 1969, during his trial, the presiding judge asked Bachmann which newspapers he had read. Initially, Bachmann claimed that he had read "left papers: Truth, New Germany, Spiegel, Stern, sorry ". Only when asked by the judge does he add “Nationalzeitung” and “Deutsche Nachrichten”.

It is now certain that Bachmann acted from a right-wing extremist background. According to a report by the news magazine Der Spiegel , Bachmann did shooting exercises with former NPD member Wolfgang Sachse in Peine, Lower Saxony, and bought firearms and ammunition from him.

Bachmann also had contact with a group of right-wing extremists who carried out bomb attacks. A Stasi file published in 2009 contained references to contacts with the Braunschweig group .

Prison and death

Dutschke later entered into a dialogue with his assassin, the effect of which on Bachmann is controversial. Some sources claim that Bachmann Dutschke largely ignored, others say that Bachmann this dialogue was very important and that he suicide committed because he had not heard anything more from Dutschke a long time. Bachmann committed suicide in prison on February 24, 1970 by suffocating himself with a plastic bag over his head. Five mourners attended his funeral, among them Horst Mahler , Rudi Dutschke's lawyer at the time. On Dutschke's order he placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave. The armband carried the inscription: “A victim of class society.” After Bachmann's death, Dutschke wrote: “The struggle for liberation has only just begun; unfortunately Bachmann can no longer take part in it ”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Elsässer : Three balls on Rudi Dutschke. In: Neues Deutschland , April 11, 2008, page 3.
  2. ↑ Ulrich Chaussy : The three lives of Rudi Dutschke. A biography. Hermann Luchterhand Verlag, Darmstadt / Neuwied 2nd edition 1983, ISBN 3-472-86576-8 , p. 285
  3. ↑ a b Revelation through Stasi files: Dutschke assassin had contact with neo-Nazis. In: Spiegel Online . December 5, 2009, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Reinhard Mohr: Revelation about the Dutschke assassin: horrors from the brown swamp. In: Spiegel Online . December 6, 2009, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Norbert Kandel: Trial against right-wing extremists: bomb from the undercover agent. In: zeit.de . November 14, 1980, accessed April 13, 2020 .
  6. ↑ "Dear Josef Bachmann ..." Dutschke wrote these letters to his assassin. Bild.de , April 27, 2010, accessed on April 11, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Dorothea Hauser: Baader and Herold. Description of a fight. Berlin 1997, p. 143.
  8. ↑ Rudi Dutschke: The diaries 1963–1979 . Cologne 2005, p. 122.
personal data
SURNAME Bachmann, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bachmann, Josef Erwin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German assassin
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Reichenbach in Vogtland
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1970