WORLD:
What is the first picture that comes to mind when you talk about the “German Autumn”?
Hanns-Eberhard Schleyer:
The first picture is the photo of my father as a so-called prisoner of the RAF.
When people talk and write about this autumn of 1977 and what happened back then, i.e. the kidnapping and murder of my father, these contributions are almost always illustrated with this photo.
That drives me.
I have spoken to many journalists and said: “Leave this picture out.” It is, so to speak, a constant mockery of the victim.
It just hurts.
WORLD:
If you do research today, more than 40 years later, in the environment of former RAF members and sympathizers, it is astonishing that you keep standing in front of closed doors - and encounter a deep silence.
Schleyer:
There is obviously a kind of omertà among the members of the RAF who are still alive, who have been imprisoned for a long time and then released.