Siegfried Buback (3 January 1920,

Wilsdruff Wilsdruff () is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, in Saxony, Germany, with 14,444 inhabitants (2020). It is situated 14 km west of Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

– 7 April 1977,

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

) was the Attorney General of West Germany from 1974 until his murder in 1977.

Life and career

Buback studied at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. From 1940 to 1945, he was a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

, while serving as a soldier in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From 1945 to 1947, he was a prisoner of war. In 1953 he became an attorney, and continued his career until 1972 as general attorney. His name first appeared in public in 1962 when he accused the political magazine ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in the ''Spiegel'' scandal. In 1966, the case lead to a groundbreaking ruling of the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...

about the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

. In the 1970s he was decidedly opposed to 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 became the first assassination victim, along with his driver Wolfgang Göbel and judicial officer Georg Wurster, in a series of events called the "

German Autumn The German Autumn (german: Deutscher Herbst) was a series of events in Germany in 1977, mostly late in the year, associated with the kidnapping and murder of industrialist, businessman, and former SS member Hanns Martin Schleyer, president of ...

Assassination

Buback was shot by members of the RAF while travelling from his home in Neureut to the

Bundesgerichtshof The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

. While Buback's Mercedes 230.6 was stopped at a traffic light, two unknown persons on a Suzuki GS 750 motorcycle pulled alongside him, both wearing olive green

motorcycle helmet A motorcycle helmet is a type of helmet used by motorcycle riders. Motorcycle helmets contribute to motorcycle safety by protecting the rider's head in the event of an impact. They reduce the risk of head injury by 69% and the risk of death by 42%. ...

s. The passenger on the rear of the motorcycle quickly fired fifteen shots with a semi-automatic HK43 rifle at the vehicle before fleeing. Buback and his driver, Göbel, died at the scene of the crime; Wurster died six days later from his injuries. Even though four RAF members (

Christian Klar Christian Klar (born 20 May 1952) is a former leading member of the second generation Red Army Faction (RAF), active between the 1970s and 1980s. Imprisoned in 1982 in Bruchsal Prison, he was released on 19 December 2008, after serving over 26 ...

Knut Folkerts Knut Detlef Folkerts (born 1 January 1952 in Singen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is a former member of the terrorist group, the Red Army Faction (RAF). In 1977 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Netherlands for murder. Later he was c ...

, Günter Sonnenberg, and

Brigitte Mohnhaupt Brigitte Margret Ida Mohnhaupt (born 24 June 1949) is a German convicted former terrorist associated with the second generation of the Red Army Faction (RAF) members. She was also part of the Socialist Patients' Collective (SPK). From 1971 until ...

) were formally charged and prosecuted in connection with the Buback murder, important details of their involvement have not been solved. German authorities have so far been unable to find out who was driving the motorcycle and who was firing the weapon at Buback. In April 2007, 30 years after his assassination, Buback's violent death again became the subject of public discussion when his son,

Michael Buback Michael Buback (February 16, 1945) is a chemist and professor at Göttingen University. He is the son of Siegfried Buback, the former chief federal prosecutor of Germany who was assassinated by Red Army Fraction (RAF) militant group in the German ...

, was contacted by former RAF member

Peter-Jürgen Boock Peter-Jürgen Boock (born 3 September 1951) is a former terrorist of the Red Army Faction. Earlier life After completing secondary school, Boock began training as a mechanic but soon quit. Claiming that his father was a staunch Nazi, Boock then ...

. Boock shared details with Buback's son indicating that it was

Stefan Wisniewski Stefan Wisniewski (born 8 April 1953) is a former member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). Early life Wisniewski was born in 1953 in Klosterreichenbach, a part of Baiersbronn, Baden-Württemberg, in the Black Forest. He was the son of Gisela, a ...

who had fired the gun at Siegfried Buback.

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 ...

, another former RAF member, has also claimed Wisniewski was the killer. On 6 July 2012, Becker was convicted of assisting the (still unknown) murderers and sentenced to four years in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buback, Siegfried 1920 births 1977 deaths Assassinated German people Deaths by firearm in Germany German murder victims German prisoners of war in World War II German prosecutors Jurists from Saxony Male murder victims Nazi Party members People from Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge People murdered in Germany Public Prosecutors General of Germany Unsolved murders in Germany Victims of the Red Army Faction

Life and career

Assassination

See also

References