01 January, 1964
A Congolese soldier of the Armée National, the government troops, shoots a rebel during the Congo Crisis. Assigned by Stern, Gerd Heidemann traveled to Congo in 1964, to report on the Congo Crisis which had broken out after Congo's declaration of independence in 1960. Together with journalist Ernst Petry, Heidemann published a series of articles in Stern about a brigade of Moïse Tshombe's mercenary army called Kommando 52. This brigade was led by former Wehrmacht officer Siegfried Müller and included several West German soldiers. The articles and photos were published in Stern on 22, 29 November and 6 December 1964, preceding Moïse Tshombe's visit to West Germany and West Berlin in mid-December 1964. Tshombe had been prime minister of Congo since July 1964, but was to be dismissed from his position in October 1965 by President Joseph Kasavubu.
