Today we'll be looking at a hostage crisis. One in which two bank robbers go on the run
with their hostages for days, during this time they hijacked a bus full of people and
crossed the border into another country! How could such a thing happen? Well, there are
two reasons. The first is ill-prepared police. You probably
guessed that one. I mean how do you just let the bad guys take even more hostages and then
leave the country? Well, it wasn't all the police's fault. The second reason is over-zealous
journalism. The media followed these guys around everywhere and at times it hampered
the police's efforts. They conducted interviews while the hostage crisis was still ongoing,
and one journalist even got in the car with the captors to provide directions. So how
did this all play out? Let's see.
It's August 16 1988 in Gladbeck, West Germany. Two men enter the Deutsche Bank before opening
hours. One of them, is Hans-Jürgen Rösner - a man who has spent large portions of his
life in prison, and feels he has little left to lose. Accompanying him is Dieter Degowski
- I can already tell this episode will see the continuation of my rich tradition of looking
up every name pronunciation and still fucking it up. Reportedly the less-composed and more
dim-witted of the two, Degowski served as somewhat of a lackey for Rösner, though he
had a criminal past of his own. With guns drawn, they threatened the bank
staff - but within minutes police arrived, and a stand-off ensued. After hours of negotations,
the police agreed to hand over several hundred thousand Deutschmarks in cash and a car in
which the two would be allowed to getaway. That night, the two hopped into the car and
drove off. Unfortunately for police, they had brought two hostages from the bank. Well,
I say unfortunate but it was their own fault really, why give them the keys before making
sure they're not bringing the hostages with them? Why not have the car specially rigged
for easy recapture? All you had to do was empty most of the fuel.
The pair drove through the night and into the next day. 230km from Gladbeck was Bremen,
here they picked up Rösner's girlfriend, Marion Löblich. How was that allowed to happen?
Were the police even tracking this car? Did they just lose interest once they left the
bank? I'm certainly not an expert in hostage scenarios but it seems like letting more people
become involved in the crime unopposed is kind of a failure.
While in Bremen, they decided to ditch the car for another one. After several failed
attempts at getting another car, they hijacked a bus with over 30 passengers on board. Why
was any of that allowed to happen? What were the police doing? If they were planning to
act once the captors were on the bus, it was too late. Journalists swarmed the bus, throwing
water on any ideas the police might have had on a rescue mission. Although I'm sure that's
a fire that wasn't getting much oxygen anyways. The robbers gave a little press conference,
guns in hand, and the media gladly obliged them, unbelievably conducting interviews with
them during the hostage crisis. Some even got on the bus for better pictures.
Eventually though, they were back on the autobahn, this time heading for Hamburg. They stopped
at a service station and let the two bank hostages go. Marion Löblich went to the toilet.
The police decided, now, of all times, was the time to strike. Without contacting or
informing the central office, the police apprehended Löblich and put her in cuffs.
You can probably see why that's a bad idea. Löblich was an accomplice for sure, but it's
not like she was the one masterminding the scheme or putting guns to hostages' heads.
She was just along for the ride because she was Rösner's girlfriend. To capture her while
the two actual armed lunatics are still in command of over thirty hostages is disastrous
decision making. You've gained very little and aggravated the hostage takers a lot. Of
all the times you could have stepped in and taken decisive action, this is what you went
with? Of course, the men were furious. They issued
the police an ultimatum; if Löblich was not returned to them in the next few minutes,
they would start killing hostages. Of course, the police were forced to concede, what did
they think would happen? Unfortunately, they fucked this part up as well. They had trouble
with the handcuff locks and had missed the deadline before releasing Löblich. 15-year-old
Italian boy Emanuele di Giorgi was shot in the head. He bled to death.
By the early hours of the next day, the bus had crossed the border into the Netherlands.
Rösner and Degowski negotiated a trade with police, they gave up the bus in exchange for
a car. They took two hostages from the bus with them, 18-year-olds Silke Bischoff and
her friend Ines Falk. A few hours later they were back in West Germany, heading for Cologne.
Stopping in Cologne, the group is once again surrounded by eager journalists. The interviews
continue as Degowski holds a gun to Silke's throat for the cameras. The stress-filled
days on the run, driving non-stop is clearly taking its toll on the men. And although the
massive media attention and crowd surrounding their car seems to only agitate them further,
the journalists are only too eager to interact with the bank robbers.
They offer them food, drink and advice. Journalist Udo Röbel stands at the front, talking with
Rösner. He can sense the robbers' nerves are starting to fray, and pushes the rest
of the crowd back when they get too close, trying to calm the situation. Eventually it
all becomes too much for Rösner, who exits the vehicle pointing his gun at the crowd.
He orders them to back off and asks Röbel for the quickest way to the autobahn. As Röbel
gives the directions, Rösner grows inpatient and asks him if he'd prefer to just get in
and show them the way. Incredibly, Röbel agrees, and he squeezed in the back beside
Silke. That probably would have been a good time to ask if you could just take the poor
girl's place, but these are journalists we're talking about.
Röbel lead the captors to the autobahn, and about 40 minutes later they let him off at
a service station. "My work here is done". However, just a few kilometres down the road,
the police decided to act again. They ambushed the robber's car and rammed it from the side,
immobilizing it. A gunfight broke out, but soon, Rösner, Degowski and Löblich were
all under arrest. In the chaos, Ines had escaped into a ditch, but Silke Bischoff had received
a fatal shot to the chest, thought to be from Rösner's gun, and died at the scene. After
54 hours, the hostage crisis was over, and two were dead.
Rösner and Degowski received life sentences, while Löblich was sentenced to nine years,
though she only served six. Dieter Degowski was released in 2018, after serving 30 years
in prison. He was given a new identity upon release, under which he now lives in anonymity.
Hans-Jürgen Rösner is still behind bars. The media was criticized harshly for its involvement
in the hostage crisis, although no one was pursued legally. In my opinion, bit of a missed
opportunity to not make examples out of these fuckers. I mean technically some of them did
assist the criminals and their combined presence hindered police, surely you could get some
convictions out of that. Instead, the German Press Council banned journalists from interviewing
hostage-takers in ongoing hostage situations. I feel like that's probably something you
shouldn't need to be told, but once again, journalists. They take whole classes on ethics
in college and then come out like "how was I to know I shouldn't insert myself into a
hostage situation? There was nothing to explicitly forbid me from doing so"
If you'd like more examples of the German media making a balls of things, why not check
out my video on Hitler's Diaries? That's a crazy story. And if you'd like to hear about
another bank robbery turned hostage situation, check out my video on the Stockholm bank robbery,
which is where the term "Stockholm Syndrome" gets its name. And if you'd like to see even
more, crazy, bizarre and hilarious events - subscribe, and you'll hear about one every
week.