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The Story
Felix’s disappearance was not a normal child abduction. The abduction formed part of a very special criminal case.
This criminal case began at the “Waisenhausstrasse” side entrance of what was then the CENTRUM department store in the centre of Dresden between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on 28 December 1984.
Felix’s parents needed to buy a few little things and spontaneously decided to go on a small shopping trip to the city centre. Their destination was the CENTRUM department store on Prager Strasse.
The selection of goods available in just one building reduced the distance that they needed to cover when looking for the suitable items. The department store on its “Waisenhausstrasse” side also had a play room where parents could hand over their children to carers while they did their shopping.
The pram spaces in the child care room were unfortunately all occupied on this damp and cold December afternoon. So, Felix’s parents decided to leave their pram with the baby, who was fast asleep, next to the “Waisenhausstrasse” side entrance at about 4 p.m. He was not alone – there were other prams with sleeping babies there too.
They finished their shopping shortly before 4:30 p.m. – but to their great dismay, Felix’s pram was empty! The search measures immediately launched by the police were unsuccessful. The special task force involving 40 officers at times worked day and night, but Felix had vanished.
A sudden turn of events occurred on 6 January 1985. Residents on Friedrich-Engels-Strasse 11 (now Königstrasse 11) informed the police that they had found Felix in their hallway. However, the disappointment was indescribable – the little child who was found was not Felix.
But who was this little boy who had been abandoned in a cardboard box so that somebody would automatically find him? Nobody missed him! Who was he and was this linked to Felix’s abduction?
It is still unclear who he was. The link with Felix’s abduction only gradually became clear to the investigators.
The small boy, who was abandoned in the hallway on Friedrich-Engels-Strasse, was later called Martin by the Youth Welfare Office. “Martin” was seriously ill as a baby and was therefore given intensive medical care on a ward for the first six months of his life over a period of several weeks or even months. We can only assume that “Martin’s” parents were not happy with his development and believed that he was still sick and feared that “Martin” could not be adequately cared for in their home country.
Other emotional factors will certainly have played a role in the decision to abandon their own child and pick up a healthy, unknown child, our little Felix, to replace him.
Felix was exchanged for “Martin”!
Felix has still not been found to this day.
Family Tschök