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Waltrude Ketterer Schleyer (21 January 1916 – 21 March 2008) was the widow of Hanns Martin Schleyer, a high-ranking German business executive and former member of the SS, who was murdered by the Red Army Faction in 1977.[1][2]
Waltrude Schleyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Waltrude Ketterer 21 January 1916 |
| Died | 21 March 2008 (aged 92) |
| Occupation | Physical therapist |
| Spouse | Hanns Martin Schleyer (1939–1977, his death) |
| Parent | Emil Ketterer |
Biography
editShe married Schleyer in 1939. She was the daughter of the physician, city councillor of Munich and SA-Obergruppenführer Emil Ketterer. They had four sons. Waltrude Schleyer was a trained physical therapist and joined the Nazi Party in 1937.
During the couple's times in Prague, Waltrude Schleyer lived in a formerly Jewish owned house whose owner died in a German concentration camp within the same time period.
Schleyer's husband, Hanns Martin Schleyer, was the head of the employers association in West Germany and a former SS lieutenant.[1] He was kidnapped and then killed by the Red Army Faction (RAF) in 1977.[2]
Waltrude Schleyer advocated against clemency for RAF members who had killed her husband.[1] One of Martin Schleyer's kidnappers, Christian Klar, was refused a pardon by German President Horst Koehler,[1] but was released on 19 December 2008.[2] Other former RAF terrorist members have also been granted clemency and released. These moves were sharply opposed by Waltrude Schleyer.[1]
Waltrude Schleyer died on March 21, 2008, at the age of 92 in Stuttgart, Germany.[1] Her death was announced in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten daily newspaper, which did not give a cause of her death.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Obituaries in the news: Waltrude Schleyer". Associated Press. Denver Post. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-04-05. [dead link]
- ^ a b c d "Obituaries in the news: Waltrude Schleyer". Associated Press. International Herald Tribune. 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2008-04-05.