Celle Hole
Encyclopedia
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
of Celle
Celle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. First used on July 25, 1978, the name was part of a campaign by one of the West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
secret services (Landesbehörde für Verfassungsschutz) and the GSG 9
GSG 9
The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei , is the elite counter-terrorism and special operations unit of the German Federal Police.-History and name:...
in an attempt to lay blame on the Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
, West Germany's most active and prominent left-wing terrorist group. However, the incident was revealed in 1986 to be a plot by the government, much to the embarrassment of the government. The Verfassungsschutz used the name 'Operation Fire Magic' .
Verfassungsschutz used a stolen Mercedes SL
Mercedes-Benz R107
The Mercedes-Benz R107 and C107 automobiles were produced from 1971 through 1989, being the second longest single series ever produced by the Mercedes, after the G-Class. They were sold under the SL and SLC model names. The R107 replaced the W113 SL-Class in 1972 and was replaced by the R129...
, driven by two criminals named Klaus-Dieter Loudil and Manfred Berger, who were recruited by Verfassungsschutz. In the car were forged passports, one passport with a photograph of Sigurd Debus. Serial numbers of the passports showed that they were stolen from German authorities. Mr. Debus was an inmate in the Celle prison. He was considered as a Red Army Faction terrorist suspect. Some tools to be used for a prison escape attempt were brought secretly to Mr. Debus' prison cell by Verfassungsschutz.
On July 25, 1978 at 2.54 a.m. the bomb was detonated at the outer prison wall, but caused minor damage only. No inmate was able to escape. The Mercedes was caught later in Salzgitter
Salzgitter
Salzgitter is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren of Lower Saxony...
(80 km away) in a police road block, the driver escaped. The false passports and some ammunition was found in the car.
In Celle, a 1.5 square meter hole, named the Celle hole (Celler Loch), was left in the outer prison wall. A handgun, model Walther PPK 7.65, which was the official pistol of one of the Verfassungsschutz officers, as well as a rubber dinghy, were found. Celle prison is situated close to the bank of river Aller
Aller
The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...
.
After the detonation, Mr. Debus' conditions of detention were impaired "for security reasons". Hence, the detainee started a hunger strike as a protest against this. Sigurd Debus died on April 16, 1981 shortly before the date of his discharge from prison.