It was the morning of November 3rd, 2020. Worried and depressed by the daily news, I decided to write a positive story about my life. I had already started, was in the middle of it, when on the same day, between 8:00 to 8:30 p.m., the news in Vienna reported on the terrorist attack in the city downtown. I couldn’t continue writing.
Today, one day later, I know more about the background and the outlaw. I couldn’t understand some of the information and memories from my youth came to my mind.
As an apprentice, 17 years old and living in Vienna, I had good and bad friends. Unfortunately, I also let the bad friends (if they should even be called friends) influence me. My single mother was struggling with my puberty. There was always a big gap between our monthly salary and our desires. We found that back then (1972) it was easy to steal the money from the newsstands on Sundays. For a few weeks this was an easy income, which was mostly wasted in the fairground Prater.
Looking back I say it was luck, that we – our little gang of 3 to 4 guys – got caught afterwards. There was a court hearing and I had a good public defender. I was considered a follower and received a sentence of 4 weeks suspended to 3 years. That meant if I didn’t “do anything” in the next 3 years, the conviction would be canceled and I would get a clean legal reference, if necessary. This was extremely important for my future.
I was given a parole officer, who I met every few weeks. In these 3 years he became a very good friend and advisor to me and thus had a very positive influence on my further life. At the end in 1975 he invited me to a snack at the new Hilton Hotel in Vienna.
I now wonder how it was possible that a 20-year-young man, who wanted to join a terrorist organization more than a year ago, was convicted and released after 8 months, could prepare his attack unsupervised.
In the 1970s, did we have more staff, care and time for young people who needed it?
I thank God, all people and angels who helped me on my way!
© Franz Kellner 2023-01-28