Cold Open

It’s dusk on June 2nd, 1967, outside the German Opera House in West Berlin.

Behind a police barrier, a young female student stands among a crowd of angry protesters. They’re demonstrating against the leader of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah, who’s been invited to attend tonight's performance of Mozart's ‘The Magic Flute’ despite his government’s notorious record on human rights.

The young student spots a black Mercedes pull up in front of the entrance. Shoulder to shoulder with other protesters, she joins the rising chant of ‘murderer’ as security agents surround the car and usher the Shah and his wife toward the Opera House.

Roaring in anger, the protesters fling tomatoes and eggs at them. But the couple soon disappear inside. And that seems to be a cue for the police outside to advance. The officer's aggression is sudden and shocking. Swinging their batons, they force the demonstrators back from the Opera House. Frightened, the young woman looks around, but suddenly the friends she came with are nowhere to be seen.

She tries to find a way out, but she realizes she is trapped, like everyone else. Her only escape is to an underground parking lot beneath a nearby building.

All around her is chaos. The student is jostled by fleeing protesters. She stumbles, hitting the side of a car, and falls to the ground. People trip and vault over her, and she struggles to get back to her feet.

She manages to rise into a crouch and is frantically searching for somewhere else to hide—

When the crack of a gunshot reverberates through the parking lot.

Terrified, the student looks around her and then sees a young man lying on the ground. Blood pools around his head. And standing over him, a police officer grips his pistol, a trail of smoke still rising from the barrel.

The young student looks back to the man lying on the concrete. He doesn’t look much older than she is. And if she had to guess, the wound he’s suffered looks like a fatal one.

Twenty-six-year-old Benno Ohnesorg will die before he can make it to a hospital. The student, husband, and soon-to-be-father was attending his first protest when he was gunned down. But in a time of espionage and intrigue, Benno’s killer will hide a crucial secret for decades. And when the truth finally comes out, it will change forever the way Germans remember this fatal shooting on June 2nd, 1967.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is June 2nd, 1967: The Killing of Benno Ohnesorg. 

Act One: Aspiring Artist

It’s November 21st, 1967, in a West Berlin courtroom, five months after the death of Benno Ohnesorg.

39-year-old Karl-Heinz Kurras sits up straight, adjusting the sleeves of his dark suit. He was the policeman who shot Benno Ohnesorg, and this is his trial. He is not been charged with murder, though, but with ‘negligent homicide’—causing death by disregarding the safety of others.

By now, the trial is nearly over. All that remains is for the judge to deliver his verdict. Over the past few weeks, many people have testified about the day of the shooting. In his own testimony, Karl-Heinz claimed to have been knocked down and beaten by 10 or 11 people at the protest. He also said that two young men had threatened him with knives, which prompted him to fire a warning shot. He claimed this bullet must have been the one that hit Benno.

There were no eyewitnesses who could corroborate Karl-Heinz's account, but there was also no one to contradict his story either.

This is typical of the problems the prosecution has faced in this trial. Their case has been plagued by missing evidence. The piece of Benno’s skull that contained the gunshot wound mysteriously vanished. The pistol magazine was never found. And even Karl-Heinz's uniform was conveniently dry cleaned before his arrest.

All of this has led to rampant speculation in the press. And when the judge arrives, he hushes a cluster of journalists who are whispering to each other in the gallery. All of these reporters are eager to hear the verdict of one of the biggest cases West Germany has seen in years.

So they quickly fall quiet, then the judge begins speaking. Citing a lack of evidence, he issues a verdict of not guilty. A very relieved Karl-Heinz smiles at his lawyer. Because he’s a free man.

Karl-Heinz Kurras might have escaped a prison term, but he doesn’t get off entirely scot-free. Following his acquittal, he is demoted from police intelligence to a local investigations department. But that's seen by many as just a slap on the wrist. And it only deepens the anger felt by many people throughout West Germany.

Several suspect a state cover-up—that Benno was murdered by the police, and the authorities then deliberately misplaced the evidence. And at rallies across the country, young protesters claim the killing was a warning to anyone who attempts to question the German government. They say their country now welcomes brutal dictators like the Shah with open arms, but guns down those brave enough to object.

These students have not forgotten their nation’s history. After World War Two, the Allied powers agreed to divide and occupy a defeated Nazi Germany to prevent the country from ever becoming powerful enough to threaten Europe again. That is led to the creation of East and West Germany. But many students see the West Berlin police force as a dangerous relic of the country’s past. More than 50% of its officers fought for the Nazis during the war, and they are still notorious for their anti-communist and Anti-Semitic attitudes.

So, more and more students in West Germany flock to protest groups like the Socialist German Students’ Union, or SDS. These organizations are unified by disillusionment with the status quo and a desire for justice for Benno Ohnesorg.

With the public’s strong support for their cause, the Ohnesorg family launches a legal appeal over Benno’s death. In 1970, Karl-Heinz Kurras is once again forced to stand trial over the incident. The Ohnesorgs’ lawyer argues that the original trial was severely flawed and did not consider all the available evidence. Still, the second trial ends the same way as the first: Karl-Heinz is acquitted once again.

Following this verdict, some formerly peaceful protesters start to see violence as a legitimate form of resistance. In this new, more extreme form of rebellion, militant left-wing groups like the Red Army Faction begin to emerge. Their methods of ‘urban guerrilla warfare’ include bombing department stores and robbing banks to finance their activities.

One group of young anarchists even call themselves the 2nd of June Movement, naming themselves after the date Benno Ohnesorg was killed. But though Benno’s death is central to their identity, their mission goes far beyond fighting for justice for him. The group is also committed to taking broader revenge against their government at large. And, in 1975, their agenda will culminate in the most daring kidnapping in West German history.

Act Two: The Kidnapping of Peter Lorenz

It’s just before 9 AM, on February 27th, 1975, in West Berlin, more than seven years after the shooting of Benno Ohnesorg.

Peter Lorenz, a tall and slender politician with thick-rimmed glasses, gazes out of his black Mercedes, watching the bare trees that line the street flick by the window. West Berlin's elections are just three days away, and Peter is poised to become the city's first conservative mayor in 20 years.

But Peter's attention is dragged away from the car window. When a four-ton truck pulls into the intersection right in front of them. Peter's driver slams on the brakes, jolting Peter forward in his seat. The Mercedes skids to a stop. But the car behind them does not.

Furious, the driver gets out to inspect the damage to the rear of his car. And Peter watches through the windscreen, wondering what caused this truck to block the intersection. Just then, a man carrying a long broom emerges from the trees. He runs toward the Mercedes, smashes the broom over the driver’s head, and knocks him unconscious. Peter realizes this is not an accident—it’s an ambush.

But before he can flee, four masked men fling open the doors of Peter's car. The largest of them pins Peter to the seat. Peter thrashes with all his might, but the men hold him down until one of them can rip back Peter’s sleeve and inject something into his arm. Then, as the car's engine restarts, Peter begins to feel drowsy. By the time the car is in motion and hurtling down the road once more, he is unconscious.

After his abduction, Peter is moved to another car, then a truck, before finally waking up in a stuffy basement with a high ceiling and soundproofed walls.

Knowing that a prominent politician like Peter will soon be missed, the kidnappers release a Polaroid photo of him holding up a handwritten sign. It says that he is now a prisoner of the 2nd of June Movement.

This group of anarchists have pulled violent stunts before, so the government is worried for Peter’s safety. But Peter’s captors are determined to treat their hostage humanely. They provide him with a bathroom with a privacy curtain, and he’s given newspapers every day, though the stories about his own kidnapping are censored. And at first, the kidnappers try to question him about politics and the corruption they see in his party. But eventually, they give up and just play chess with him instead.

But the 2nd of June Movement has serious demands in exchange for Peter’s release, and they mail these directly to the press. They want the release of six imprisoned anarchists, whose crimes range from membership in an illegal organization to attempted murder. The Movement also asks that the prisoners be put on a plane bound for Yemen, an ally of the Soviet Union. To guarantee the safety of the prisoners, the 2nd of June Movement wants the former mayor of Berlin, Heinrich Albertz, to join them on the plane as a voluntary hostage. The deadline they give is 9 AM, the following Monday. And if they don’t get what they want by then, they say they’re going to kill Peter.

On Sunday morning, one day before the deadline, while the authorities discuss arrangements for the prisoners’ release, the West Berlin elections take place. Peter Lorenz’s Christian Democratic Union party wins the majority of votes. And Peter himself learns of the results when the kidnappers climb down the ladder into the basement and congratulate him on becoming the next mayor, though they remind him that he won’t be taking office unless their demands are met.

Then on Friday morning, a plane takes off from Frankfurt Airport. On board are the newly released anarchist prisoners and their voluntary hostage, Heinrich Albertz. When the plane lands in Yemen, the prisoners disembark, and Heinrich Albertz is flown back to Germany with a letter to deliver. Upon his arrival, he reads the message live on TV. The letter concludes with the phrase “a day like this, as lovely as today.” This is the code to the kidnappers to release Peter Lorenz.

So, down in the soundproofed basement, Peter’s captors celebrate with a bottle of wine before releasing him. They revel in their victory, hoping that the kidnapping will make the authorities think twice about the way they treat protesters in the future, and believe that their success is a fitting tribute to Benno Ohnesorg.

But the truth about his death at the protest in West Berlin is still yet to be revealed. And decades later, a shocking revelation will alter perceptions of that day forever.

Act Three: A Stasi Spy

It’s May 23rd, 2009, outside a Berlin grocery store, 40 years after the killing of Benno Ohnesorg.

Now 81, Karl-Heinz Kurras walks slowly to the store entrance. He’s on his way to pick up more beer.

It’s a warm day, and the retired policeman stops to adjust his collar, glancing at the newspaper stand in front of the store. He sees his own name and face on every front page. His involvement in the killing of Benno Ohnesorg is being dug up again. But Karl-Heinz doesn’t need to read any of it. He already knows everything.

After the shooting of Benno Ohnesorg in 1967, Karl-Heinz was generally thought of as a policeman gone rogue. A fascist thug with a gun and a jumpy trigger finger. But historians have now uncovered documents revealing that Karl-Heinz was actually an undercover spy for the Communists.

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Karl-Heinz passed information to the East German Secret Police, also known as the Stasi. As he rose up through the ranks of West Berlin’s police force, the Stasi paid Karl-Heinz more and more.

But after Benno Ohnesorg’s death, the Stasi cut all contact. They hid his files and destroyed any other evidence that could connect them to Karl-Heinz. So, the truth remained hidden for decades—until now.

And when they are made public, the revelations are stunning. Many think it possible that the Stasi asked Karl-Heinz to exacerbate tensions in West Berlin, and that’s why he shot Benno. But there is no solid evidence to support this, and Karl-Heinz has no intention of providing it.

He’s tired of it all, and he never reveals what really lay behind the shooting before he dies in 2014.

His silence leaves behind a murky and confusing legacy. Benno Ohnesorg’s death was a turning point in Germany’s modern history, when its young people pushed for a cleaner break with the country’s fascist past and a renewed embrace of democracy and human rights. The revelation that Benno’s killer was inspired by socialism and not fascism upset all preconceptions about the case and ensures that for years to come, questions will continue to be asked about what really happened, and why, when a young student was gunned down in a Berlin protest on June 2nd, 1967.

Outro

Next on History Daily. After a rare species of bird becomes a sought-after collector’s item, the last pair of great auks in the world is killed by Icelandic fishermen.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Supervising Sound Designer is Matthew Filler.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Angus Gavan McHarg.

Edited by Joel Callen.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.