He had found in 2004 the notebook of the then deputy CDU parliamentary group chairman Friedrich Merz. The then homeless street newspaper salesman Enrico J. discovered the device at a taxi rank at the Berlin East Station. Although he hardly owned anything, the honest Finder gave the device to the Federal Border Police.
His memory of how Friedrich Merz responded to this was described by the former homeless man in an interview with the "Taz".
"Suddenly, I had the mobile numbers of important politicians in front of me: Gerhard Schröder, who was then Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Edmund Stoiber, Theo Waigel and many others," recalls the 53-year-old.
"I could have sold the thing on the black market, there was all the data of the federal government on it," says the former homeless. But that's exactly what he did not do.
So thanked Friedrich Merz
Instead, he decided to hand in the notebook. He handed it over to the then still residing in the station Federal Border Police and left as an address that of the then homeless help. Four weeks later, a social worker sent him his new book as a thank you from Friedrich Merz.
The title: "Only those who change will survive, from the end of prosperity illusion - course setting for our future". In addition the dedication: "Many thanks to the honest Finder".
Wrong self-assessmentWhy Merz does not belong to the middle class
"I thought that was totally outrageous," he recalls. "I threw the book into the Spree right away - he knew exactly from the given address that I was homeless, but it was not even worth a penny to him.
He was not concerned about the money, emphasizes the former "street sweeper" salesman, who again has a permanent residence and has been working for ten years. Rather, he would have been happy if Merz had personally thanked him. "After all, I have prevented secret information about important politicians in the wrong hands."
When he read that Merz is now pushing back into active politics, he has "of course immediately back to this time and this rip-off action.I can not treat him and my buddy, and now he makes again on thick pants.So rich is he has become a serious member of the middle class. "