Face Down: The Killing of Thomas Niedermayer

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Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Gerry Gregg, published by BBC in 2023 - English narration

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The story of how one man’s abduction from his Belfast home in December 1973 resulted in decades of mental and emotional trauma for generations of his family, with tragic consequences. Face Down follows the last remaining relatives of Thomas Neidermayer, granddaughters Tanya and Rachel, as they uncover the shocking truth behind the tragic events of 50 years ago that still haunt their family to this day. Thomas Niedermayer was a German-born businessman who, with his wife Ingeborg and two young daughters Gabriele and Renate, made Belfast their home in 1960. But in 1973 the IRA kidnapped Thomas; the plan was reportedly to exchange his release for the transfer of Republican prisoners Dolours and Marian Price from jail in England to one in Northern Ireland. Within days of his kidnap Thomas was dead – understood to have been killed by the IRA when he tried to escape. They secretly buried his body and denied any involvement. The mental and emotional turmoil for his wife Ingeborg, and daughters Gabriele and Renate was enormous and long-lasting. Seven years later in 1980, Thomas Niedermayer’s body was found buried face down, under an illegal dump less than a mile from his family home. In 1990, ten years after his funeral, his wife Ingeborg died by walking into the sea at Bray, south of Dublin. In 1991, the Niedermayers' youngest daughter Renate died from organ failure. It was understood to be the result of years of bulimia and alcohol addiction. As a young girl, she had been the one to open the door to the kidnappers. Gabriele, the Niedermayers' eldest daughter, married soon after the kidnapping, an RAF officer Robin Williams-Powell. In 1994, Gabriele took her own life near her Devon home. Five years later her husband Robin also died by suicide. Their two adult children Tanya and Rachel who lead us through this tragic story, had known nothing about their family’s history, only beginning to uncover the truth after the death of their father.