It was in the early 80th and I told this story many times. So it is time to write it down.

When Helmut Kohl was Bundeskanzler in Germany, they had a very new tank, the Leopard tank. It was the first time a new technology was used: the gun didn’t loose it’s focus even when the tank went through uneven terrain. Germany was not allowed export this tank for political reasons.

I was going in my favorite pub and my friends told me : if you want a free drink there are guys who are trowing money around. Curious as I was, I sat next to one of them and we talked and we drank. I asked about the source of their opulent spending and they told me they are in international trade. With what? Leopards. The animal? No the tank.

My new bar friend was newly rich, new expensive clothe that didn’t fit perfectly. People with old money have the time to afford a tailor, I thought.

Suddenly my new bar friend was quiet, his companion arrived, tall, slender with ice-cold eyes, he noticed what we were talking about because I kept chatting away. So, the tank is exported as spareparts, that is interesting, through Portugal… Suddenly his quietness put a shiver down my spine and I said, Hm sorry I have to leave, I am meeting friends in the discotheque around the block. I left and was walking fast. However when I arrived at the disco, the tall guy was already there. That cannot be, he left after me, how can he be there already ?! I ran to the bus stop as fast as I could and drove home.

Many years later, I learned the tall guy was called “Wire” because his specialty was to kill with piano wire. He was paid 250,000.00 Deutschmark to kill me and then my friends paid double the amount so he would not kill me.

What shall I say, today, 40 years later. nobody would pay a dime to save my rat’s ass.

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