Doll Torso II

On 13 April 1996, a doll’s torso was hung from the Pösen Bridge over the A4 motorway at kilometre 178.5 (district of Bucha, borough of Pösen). The doll’s torso bore a yellow Star of David with the word “Jude” [Jew] written above it, and was fitted with an improvised explosive and incendiary device (USBV). It consisted of two cardboard boxes connected to the doll’s torso by electrical cables, along with a traffic sign reading “Vorsicht Bombe” [Caution, bomb]. The special police commission, SoKo “Rex”, investigated the case as interference with road traffic, disturbance of public peace, and incitement to hatred. On one of the cardboard boxes, the print of the middle finger of Böhnhardt’s left hand was found. A reward of 5,000 DM was offered for information leading to the perpetrators’ capture. There was evidently a temporal connection between the act and the 51st anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. A few days earlier, the Central Council of Jews in Germany had visited the memorial site.

(Text and image: Frank Döbert)

External sources

Thüringer Landtag, 5. Wahlperiode, Zwischenbericht des Untersuchungsausschusses 5/1, Drucksache 5/5810, 7.3.2013, S. 214, auch 78, 108, 183 Bild-Zeitung vom 16.4.1996 Aust/ Laabs,Heimatschutz S. 159 f.