“File number XY … unsolved”
This time with award-winning guests
“XY Prize 2021” (from left): Moderator Rudi Cerne, award winner Lea-Sophie Schlömer, award winner Dennis Hennig, award winner Ahmad Al Sheikh Hussein Kames and the man he helped, Nils Rafeldt, as well as patron and Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer after the Awards ceremony on November 9th.
© ZDF / Jule Roehr
In “Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst” three people will be guests who have been awarded the “XY Prize” for their moral courage.
In the upcoming live broadcast “Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst” on Wednesday (November 17th, 8:15 pm, ZDF), presenter Rudi Cerne (63) welcomes three very special guests: This year’s winners of the “XY Prize – Together Against das Verbrechen “, which was awarded on November 9th by Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (72) in the ZDF capital studio. The award, endowed with 10,000 euros each, was presented for the 20th time this year.
The three winners were selected by an eleven-member expert jury from over 150 suggestions from viewers, relatives or friends of victims as well as from the police forces. The award, which was launched by the broadcaster and the Securitel production company for the wanted program, has received 83 people since 2002.
“With all my might” against the knife attacker
Ahmad Al Sheikh Hussein Kames (then 28) saved the life of Nils Rafeldt (then 22) when he was attacked with a knife by a 55-year-old on a public bus. “I was sitting in the back of the bus, listening to music and at first didn’t notice my surroundings,” remembers Kames. “When I heard the screams of the other passengers, I saw a man stab another man with a knife,” he continues. “I ran off immediately and dragged the perpetrator away from the young man. He was very persistent, I had to use all my strength,” said Kames. He called to the other passengers to talk to the seriously injured victim and keep him conscious.
When the police took over the perpetrator a little later, Kames immediately rushed to the seriously injured young man and provided first aid together with two young passengers. Nils Rafeldt was lucky in misfortune. After only two days he was able to leave the intensive care unit. An arrest warrant was issued against the accused on suspicion of attempted murder …
“Kames’ high level of moral courage and courage impressed even the police. The fact that he proceeded extremely carefully and did not neglect his own self-protection was one of the reasons why he was awarded the ‘XY Prize – Together against Crime'”, it says in the jury’s reasoning.
The former medical student Ahmad Al Sheikh Hussein Kames came from Syria in 2016 and is training to be an anesthesiologist at the University Clinic in Bonn. He appeared at the award ceremony together with Nils Rafeldt, who told the dramatic story again from his perspective. “The two have become good friends,” confirmed the broadcaster when asked by spot on news.
Escape from hammer and gasoline
Dennis Hennig (then 34) from Soest saved the life of a woman who was seriously injured by her ex-partner with a hammer and doused with gasoline. The terrible incident happened just before Christmas in a smaller industrial park. When Hennig, who had to work late and was alone in his company’s office on the fourth floor, suddenly heard cries for help, he knew that he had to help the badly bleeding woman, he remembers.
He ran downstairs and was able to snatch the lighter from the attacker with which he wanted to light himself and the woman. After some exertion with hands and feet, Dennis Hennig managed to get the perpetrator away from the woman: “He then lay there for a few seconds and I used this time to pick up the woman and her belongings and flee into the building with her.” The two were safe there. Hennig only now recognized the cleaning power of the office. The fugitive was arrested by a police car a few streets away.
“Dennis Hennig reacted in an exemplary manner when he suddenly witnessed a brutal act of violence. Thanks to his great personal commitment, he saved the life of a woman in dire need. The jury expresses its greatest respect to Dennis Hennig.”
Teen stops gunmen
The third winner is Lea-Sophie Schlömer. The then 16-year-old stopped the gunman from Volkmarsen, who drove into a carnival parade at the end of February 2020 without braking and at 50 to 60 km / h. Schlömer was there that afternoon with her mother and her six-year-old sister. “The car drove by about 1.5 to 2 meters away from me. I heard a crash and turned around,” she recalls. Her mother, who was hit by the car like many, and her sister saved themselves on the sidewalk.
Schlömer didn’t hesitate, ran after the car. “It was clear to me that the car key had to be pulled. The street is getting narrower and narrower. The people further back would not have had a chance,” she says. Among other things, the residents of a disabled nursing home where Schlömer works were also there. The automatic start-stop system brought the vehicle to a standstill. “I tore open the passenger side, kneeled on the seat and grabbed the key.” The perpetrator wanted to fend them off: “We kept knocking our hands off the key – I wanted to remove the key, he would start the car again.” At that moment, several men came to the driver’s side, beat the perpetrator and held him. Lea-Sophie Schlömer then took care of the injured on the street.
“The jury pays Lea-Sophie Schlömer its highest appreciation for her incredibly courageous intervention in an extremely threatening extreme situation. For this and for her careful and caring behavior towards the victims, she deserves the ‘XY Prize 2021′”, said the jury.
More criminal cases in the live broadcast
But this program will again be about unsolved crimes: A 34-year-old is shot in front of his house at night after work. A 30-year-old disappears without a trace. And an old lady is brutally attacked by two fake parcel carriers.