Benno Ohnesorg was a university student in West Germany who was killed by a policeman during a demonstration in West Berlin. The student Benno Ohnesorg lost his life to a policeman's bullet. It was the first political demonstration Ohnesorg had ever attended. His death spurred the expansion of the left-wing German student movement.
On June 2, 1967, Onnesorg took part in a student protest against the state visit of the Shah of Iran near the Deutsche Oper. Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, was attending a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Deutsche Oper that night.
The pro-Shah demonstrators, including agents of the Shah's intelligence service, turned the student protest into a violent confrontation. The police overreacted, adopting brutal tactics in an attempt to control the crowd. Amid the continuing mayhem, the student demonstrators dispersed into side streets. In the courtyard of Kurm Street, Onnorg was shot in the back of the head by police officer Karl-Heinz Klass. Ohnelg died before receiving treatment at the hospital.
The police officer, Class, was tried in the same year, 1967, and was found not guilty on November 27, 1967. This incident had a significant impact on the rise of left-wing terrorism in West Germany in the 1970s, culminating in the June 2 Movement and the Red Army Faction.
No comments:
Post a Comment