German describes the generosity of Russian fellow prisoners
"Moin, Herr Scholz, danke für Ihre Hilfe", says Patrick Schöbel as he is welcomed by the Chancellor on the tarmac. Schöbel is one of five Germans who were freed in a prisoner exchange with Moscow. In his daily life in prison, he experienced not only cruelty but also kindness.
Patrick Schöbel is one of the men who were freed in the prisoner exchange with Russia last Thursday. The 38-year-old Hamburg native exclusively tells Stern about his time in Russian detention, the growing despair behind bars - and what he said to Chancellor Scholz on the tarmac. Schöbel was arrested upon entering Russia on January 16 because he had six cannabis gummy bears in his luggage. He faced up to seven years in prison.
"In the mornings, we were woken up with the national anthem and had to line up for inspection without our shirts on," Schöbel recalls of his daily life in prison. Most inmates were supported by their families, receiving packages with food, deodorant, and other necessities once a month. "Soon, everyone knew that I didn't have family in Russia to send me packages, and they always included me," says Schöbel, who was known among the inmates as the "gummy bear man."
Several times, men from the military came and offered the prisoners a deal: Spend a year at the front in Ukraine, and the rest of the sentence would be waived. Everyone took them up on the offer - even drug addicts who could barely walk, Schöbel remembers. "Russia takes junkies out of prison and sends them as cannon fodder to the front," he says. He himself refused.
Schöbel only found out about the exchange at the last minute. Even on the plane, he feared: "Maybe they're flying us to a labor camp in Siberia instead." It wasn't until someone handed him his passport on the plane that he thought: "Wow, they're really letting me go home!" In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz was waiting on the tarmac, and Schöbel greeted him with a casual: "Moin, Herr Scholz, danke für Ihre Hilfe!"
The Commission played a crucial role in negotiating the prisoner exchange that led to Patrick Schoëbel's release. Upon their arrival in Germany, Schoëbel and the other freed Germans were greeted by Chancellor Scholz on the tarmac.
