Last night, public news in Germany ran a historical piece....about the 50th anniversary of a bank robbery out of Munich. It's a interesting story.
On 4 August 1971....these two German guys entered a bank on Prinzregentenstrasse in Munich. They intended to rob the bank but this was not the regular kind of robbery. They intended to 'camp-out', and make this into a prisoner-hostage release deal.
What they wanted? Two-million marks, and a getaway car.
Hostages? 18 folks.
So, this was the first something like this had ever occurred, and there were no real rules on handling this.
The public? Via radio.....lots of Germans in the Munich area ended up around the bank area. Police would claim around 5,000 folks were somewhere on the street.....even in some areas fairly near the bank and obviously in a threatened position.
All of this started up around 4 PM, and around 11 PM....the robbers had worked out their deal. Here was robber number one, and his car. Robber number two was still in the bank, as things unfolded.
The police? They were no longer under the guidance or leadership of the chief....they were being directed by the lead prosecutor of Munich. (Don't ask, the guy demanded the leadership authority).
As robber one entered the car, with a hostage already in the vehicle....shots rang out. Machine guns were fired, and in the midst of all of this....the female bank clerk in the back of the car was dead. The robber? Dead as well.
So a group of police now stormed the bank, and the second robber was eventually taken......with no additional lives lost.
This whole episode became a dream 'truth-commission' episode with dozens of lessons learned.
City police with sniper-experience? None.
Radios to communicate back and forth? None.
A written strategy? None.
Most of the 5,000 people in the neighborhood stayed until the police concluded the whole 'event'.
If you asked Munich folks about the top ten events since the war ended.....this probably ranks in ten that most would list.
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