Epilogue to a four-decade judicial soap opera. Dietrich Krombach, 84-year-old German doctor, sentenced in France to 15 years' imprisonment for the murder of Kalinka Bamberski in 1982, has just been released from Melun prison for medical reasons. Europe 1 returns this tragic story so incredible that it inspired the film, in the cinema, "In the name of my daughter" by Vincent Gareng.
Daniel Auteuil plays the role of the father of Kalinka Bamberski, the 14-year-old girl, found dead in 1982 in Bavaria. At the time, the girl spent her holidays in Bavaria with her mother and the latter's new companion, Doctor Krombach. At the start of the drama, the doctor spoke of a medical error, a sleeping pill error. But when reading the autopsy report, Kalinka's father is convinced that his daughter was raped and then killed by Krombach to silence her. For him, it's the start of a long fight.
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The fight of a lifetime
Then begins the fight of a lifetime for André Bamberski who wants to obtain justice. In 1995, he thought he was getting to the point when Krombach was sentenced in France. However, Germany refuses to extradite the doctor.
Fourteen years later, in 2009, a spectacular twist, Krombach was found tied up and gagged on a sidewalk in Mulhouse. He was kidnapped outside his home in Germany by two thugs recruited by Kalinka's father. For this kidnapping Bamberski is symbolically sentenced to 1 year suspended prison sentence.
For his part, Krombach has 15 years of criminal imprisonment. As for her health, already fragile at the time of the trial, she deteriorated in prison. After several refusals, the justice system finally granted him a suspended sentence for medical reasons.
Krombach left this Friday morning from Melun prison to return to Germany with his daughter, a month just before the normal end of his sentence.