Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049352-0010, Bonn, CDU-Vorstandssitzung, Barzel, Blüm, Lorenz

Peter Lorenz (22 December 1922 – 6 December 1987) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In 1975 Lorenz was a candidate for mayor of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. He was kidnapped by the 2 June Movement group three days before the elections on 27 February. The group demanded a release of several imprisoned left-wing militants, including 2 June Movement members

Verena Becker Verena Becker (born 31 July 1952) is a former West German member of the Movement 2 June and later the Red Army Faction. Terrorist career While a student, Becker initially joined Movement 2 June (J2M) and was involved in bank robberies and the bomb ...

and

Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann (18 May 1951 – 7 October 1995) was a German far-left militant, associated with Movement 2 June (J2M) and the Second Generation Red Army Faction. She was the wife of the J2M terrorist Norbert Kröcher. Her '' nom d ...

as well as

Horst Mahler Horst Mahler (born 23 January 1936) is a German former lawyer and political activist. He once was a far-left militant and a founding member of the Red Army Faction who later became a Maoist, before switching to neo-Nazism. Between 2000 and 2003, ...

, one of the founders of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

(RAF) and Munich Tupamaros member Rolf Heissler. Although Mahler refused to be exchanged, the other prisoners were set free. After the terrorists had been flown out to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

, Lorenz was set free on 4 March. He had won the plurality (43.9%) of votes while being absent, nevertheless

Klaus Schütz Klaus Schütz (17 September 1926
– 29 November 2012) was a German politician, who ...

, relying on a coalition of

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

and Free Democrats, remained mayor. One of the freed prisoners, Rolf Heissler, became a member of the group which abducted

Hanns-Martin Schleyer Hans "Hanns" Martin Schleyer (; 1 May 1915 – 18 October 1977) was a German business executive, and employer and industry representative, who served as President of two powerful commercial organizations, the Confederation of German Employers' A ...

in 1977 to exchange him for imprisoned RAF members. After the operation had failed, Schleyer was killed. Heissler was one of his two murderers.WorldwideLexicon.Marx: Ex-Terrorist Reveals Names Of The Schleyer Murderers

References

1922 births 1970s missing person cases 1987 deaths Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Formerly missing people German people taken hostage Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin Missing person cases in Germany Politicians from Berlin Nazi Party members {{Germany-CDU-politician-stub

See also

References