Franz Fuchs (12 December 1949 – 26 February 2000) was an Austrian

domestic terrorist Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...

who killed four people and injured 15, some seriously, using three

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

s and 24

mail bomb A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorist attacks such as those of the Unabomber. Some countries have agenc ...

s, which he sent in five waves between 1993 and 1997. Criminal psychologists characterized Fuchs as a highly intelligent but socially inept loner. He targeted people he considered to be foreigners, or organizations and individuals who he believed were "friendly to foreigners". According to a study, Franz Fuchs inspired Pekka Eric-Auvinen to kill 8 of his classmates during the Jokela school shooting in Finland in 2007.

Mail bombs and improvised explosive devices

In December 1993 he started his first wave of

mailbomb A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the mail, postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorism, terrorist attacks such as those of the Theodore Kaczynski, U ...

s. Early victims were the priest August Janisch (because of his help for

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s), Silvana Meixner ( ORF journalist for

minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

), and the

Mayor of Vienna This is a list of mayors and governors of Vienna since 1282. Vienna is the capital city of Austria. Since 1920, it has also been an States of Austria, Austrian state, with its mayor doubling as the ''Landeshauptmann'' (governor or minister-pres ...

, Helmut Zilk, who lost a large part of his left hand in the explosion. Other mailbombs which were discovered and neutralized were targeted at

Helmut Schüller Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may ref ...

(humanitarian organisation Caritas), the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

politicians Madeleine Petrovic and

Terezija Stoisits Terezija Stoisits (; born 14 November 1958 in Stinatz, Austria) is an Austrian politician of the The Greens – The Green Alternative, Green Party. She served as an Ombudsman, ombudswoman of the Republic of Austria 2007–2013. Before that she wa ...

, Wolfgang Gombocz and Minister Johanna Dohnal. While attempting to disarm an

found at a bilingual school in

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

, police officer Theo Kelz lost both his hands on 24 August 1994. (Kelz subsequently became the first Austrian to receive a double hand transplant, and made an impressive recovery.) Franz Fuchs claimed responsibility for his attacks in a letter to the foreign minister of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in September 1994, in the name of the (Bavarian Liberation Army). In a number of subsequent letters, he tried to give the impression of a larger organisation with different units. However, from the second wave of mailbombs in October 1994 not a single one went off.

Oberwart attack on Roma

On 5 February 1995, four

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

were killed in

Oberwart Oberwart (; ; ) is a town in Burgenland in southeast Austria on the banks of the Pinka River, and the capital of the district of the Oberwart (district), same name. With almost 8,000 inhabitants it’s the third largest town in Burgenland, after E ...

with a

pipe bomb A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) that uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively larg ...

which was attached to a sign that read "Roma zurück nach Indien" ("Romani back to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

"). It was the worst racial terror attack in post-war Austria, and was Fuchs's first fatal attack. The bomb was set to explode at chest-height when someone touched the placard with the message. The next day in nearby

Stinatz Stinatz (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Stinjaki'', Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Pásztorháza'') is a town in the district of Güssing (district), Güssing in Burgenland in Austria. According to the last census 62% of the population are memb ...

, mainly populated by Austrians of Croatian descent, a bomb with a pamphlet " Go back to

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

" wounded a garbage worker. Between June 1995 and December 1995 he sent three more waves of mailbombs. Wave number three was targeted at TV host Arabella Kiesbauer, Dietrich Szameit (vice-mayor of

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

) and a

dating agency A dating agency, also known as a marriage bureau, marriage agency, matrimonial bureau or matrimonial agency, is a business that provides matchmaking services to potential couples, with a view toward romance and/or marriage between them. Variati ...

. Kiesbauer and Szameit did not open their letters themselves and were not hurt. Wave number four was targeted at two medics and a refugee aid worker, Maria Loley. One medic from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and Maria Loley were injured; the other mailbomb, targeted at a South Korean medic was discovered and neutralized. Two mailbombs of wave number five detonated early in mailboxes, the remaining two were discovered and neutralized. This was the last incident before Fuchs was arrested.

Arrest, trial and death

At this stage Fuchs had become highly paranoid. On 1 October 1997 near his residence in Gralla, he followed two women in a car who he believed were observing him. When police attempted to question him on what they believed was a routine case of stalking, he produced another improvised explosive device which he had kept in his car, and detonated it in his hands in front of the policemen. He survived his suicide attempt, but he lost both hands, and also injured a nearby police officer. Fuchs was arrested without giving further resistance and, after a trial which many in Austria felt had fallen short of making all attempts to uncover deep details, was sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...

on 10 March 1999. Through his unruly behavior during the trial, Fuchs had repeatedly forced his removal from court proceedings. On 26 February 2000, Fuchs was found

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

with the cable of his electric razor in his prison cell at

Graz-Karlau Prison Graz-Karlau Prison () is located in Gries, the 5th district of the city of Graz, capital of the Austrian state of Styria. With a capacity of 552 inmates, Graz-Karlau is the third-largest prison in Austria. History Built between 1584 and 1590 i ...

. The prison physician determined his death to be a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

Media

*In 2007, the criminal case was portrayed in the

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

'' Franz Fuchs – Ein Patriot'', the role of Franz Fuchs was played by Austrian Karl Markovics. *In the computer games '' Hitman: Codename 47'' and '' Hitman: Contracts'', the character Frantz Fuchs appears to be based on Franz. Frantz is an Austrian terrorist, who served in

Hitlerjugend The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was t ...

as a youngster, and is planning to blow up a hotel at which a U.N. peace summit is being held.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Franz 1949 births 2000 suicides 1993 murders in Austria 1995 murders in Austria Racially motivated violence against black people in Europe Anti-Croat sentiment Anti-Korean violence Anti-Arabism in Europe Antiziganism in Europe Austrian amputees Austrian mass murderers Austrian neo-Nazis Austrian people convicted of murder Austrian people who died in prison custody Austrian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment February 1995 in Europe Mass murder in 1995 Murderers who died by suicide in prison custody People from Leibnitz District People convicted of murder by Austria Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Austria Prisoners who died in Austrian detention Racism in Austria Serial bombers Suicides by hanging in Austria Terrorist incidents in Austria Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1995 Xenophobia in Europe 20th-century mass murder in Europe Letter and package bombings Improvised explosive device bombings in 1993 Improvised explosive device bombings in 1994 Improvised explosive device bombings in 1995