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Hours after ordering the man hunt, Schmidt appeared before a special session of the Bundestag. He warned that "terrorism is by no means dead, neither in Germany nor anywhere else in the world." Earlier in the week, the Paris daily Figaro had headlined: THE LIFE OF EVERY NATION IS AT STAKE. If that was the case, Schmidt had shown that his government was prepared to fight for Germany's life.
Schleyer was the tenth target of West German terrorists to die in the past year. Another victim was Captain Jurgen Schumann, 37, pilot of the skyjacked Lufthansa jet. In a fit of irrational fury, the terrorist leader, who called himself "Walter Mahmud," killed Schumann with a single pistol shot when the plane was on the ground in Aden, Southern Yemen. Schumann's body was pushed down the plane's emergency exit chute at Mogadishu. Had it not been for the skill of the rescuing commandos, many, if not all, of the terrified hostages might have suffered similar fates. According to the hostages' accounts, the skyjackers were sadists who flaunted their cruelty. Said a middle-aged male hostage: "They were animals, just animals." Mrs. Christine Santiago, the only adult American on board, later recalled, "Mahmud went into rages. It was terrible. He checked watches and jewelry to find any Jewish star. He said Jews were his enemies. There were three girls who were Jewish, and he said they would be executed in the morning. Then he changed his mind and said he wouldn't execute 'these three pigs.' " One of the women terrorists would walk up and down the aisles of the plane, smiling as she brushed hand grenades against passengers' heads.
Following Schleyer's kidnaping, Schmidt had set up two crisis staffs that met frequently in marathon sessions, at the heavily guarded Chancellery in Bonn. Elected officials and political leaders spent countless hours there in conferences, and the normal functions of the government slowed discernibly. The Bundestag dealt with only the most pressing business; the Chancellor canceled a state visit to Poland and a number of speaking engagements across the country.
Schmidt and his top aides were determined not to give in to the skyjackers, just as they had refused to yield to the ransom demands of Schleyer's kidnapers. The only decision left was when and to where the commandos would be dispatched. Largely because of a press blackout that had been in effect since Schleyer was seized, the government's deliberations were shrouded in hermetic secrecy. West German morale plummeted—particularly after news arrived of Pilot Schumann's death. But then came Mogadishu. Radio stations interrupted regular programming and punctuated coverage of the rescue and the return of the hostages with the stirring strains of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. Newspapers hit the streets with extras and thousands of copies were given away. Declared one television commentator: "It feels good to be a German today." When the freed hostages and victorious commandos returned to Germany, they received a heroes' welcome—complete with brass bands.