Thomas Gratt

Thomas Gratt (born February 21, 1956 in Bregenz , † March 29, 2006 in Vienna ) was a member of the terrorist group Movement June 2nd .

Life

Thomas Gratt comes from a Catholic-conservative building contractor family and grew up in Bregenz and Wolfurt . After graduating from high school, he studied theater studies in Vienna. His involvement in university politics for the Left List (LILI) led him to co-found the Working Group Political Trials - Political Prisoners (APG) in the spring of 1977 in view of the planned 3rd International Russell Tribunal on the Situation of Human Rights in the Federal Republic of Germany .

In the early summer of 1977, Gratt became a member of the June 2nd Movement and went illegally. He took part in the kidnapping of the Austrian entrepreneur Walter Palmers on November 8, 1977 and was arrested on the run along with an accomplice on November 23 in Chiasso on the Italian border. In February 1979, Gratt assumed responsibility for the June 2nd Movement in the Vienna criminal trial. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for extortion, of which he served 13 years. He made no petition for clemency. In the Stein prison he staged plays such as Don Juan and King Ubu .

While still in custody, he published the volume of poetry TRANSLATION under the pseudonym Buster C. Daniels (Supplement No. 26 of the magazine Sturzflug, Bozen 1989). After he was released in 1990, he was a guest at the Maison des Écrivains Étrangers et des Traducteurs . The German original and a French translation by Didier Viaud of the novel La mise en corps (Edition MEET, Saint-Nazaire 1995) was published by the latter .

In the documentary No Island (director: Alexander Binder , interviews: Michael Gartner), which was shown for the first time at the Viennale in October 2006 , Gratt worked on the story of the kidnapping. After filming was finished, but before the film was even finished, he committed suicide .

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personal data
SURNAME	Gratt, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian terrorist movement June 2nd
DATE OF BIRTH	February 21, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bregenz
DATE OF DEATH	March 29, 2006
Place of death	Vienna