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Rudol Yethon, a poor German in Colombia

Rudolf Yethon is the poorest German, he has been living in Colombia 27 years ago, he have been mugged by the police in the center of Bogota , “taking for a ride�? by two men and he was imprisoned syndicate of advising the Farc. Also he bought a property to which he has not been able to return, and now lives in Villavicencio, where he works as a zorrero. Of his Dad he knows that he was a soldier of the United States and was in Germany during the Second World War, and his mother, he hasn't seen her for more than 30 years ago and doesn't know where is she.
Its history began in January of 1980, when he decided to visit this country with the savings that he had of his work in bus repair company. Then he was 25 years old. the few days he was in Bogota, right in the center he was mugged by two policemen taking his money and return tickets with them. He report the robbery and the policemen were charged, but they didn't give him the money or tickets back, so he was broke. he said that the German embassy did'nt help him to return to Germany. Desperate he met two men on the street, who told to him that the alternative was in Guaviare. They said to him that there he could get employment and save for the return ticket. Without doubting he embarked on a bus with the strangers. Three days after arriving at San jOse of the Guaviare, his two companions left him in a hotel and with the pending bill. Somebody said to him that an employment opportunity was in Calamary. Without doubting he took a car and drove there .Once there, he realized that the job was to take advantage of his medical knowledges learned during the time that he gave service in the infirmary(nursing) of the German Army. Practically he turned into the doctor of the settlement. He was buying medicines and was formulating them. Within a year a big drug store was put in the area and the business finished. Then he began to find jobs on farms , he learned to hunt, to plant etc...he had two brief relationships but not children. He became a cultivator "During many years I worked hard and I managed to save money and bought a small property, in which I dedicated myself to cultivate", said this German of blond hair, blue eyes, rough hands . This man born in Ulm, south of Germany, says that he never worked as a raspachín, because of his back, it couldn't manage the strain of the job and on the guerrilla he recognizes that there were presence in the zone. According to his story, on the 20 of March of the 2002, when he left his farm to watch a cattle, it was in the middle of a combat of the Army with the guerrilla. He was captured by the military units and the following day taken in a helicopter to San jose. "When we landed they had a table with few arms and next to a boy they presented/displayed us to the press like members of the Farc. They said that I trained the Farc and that I was involved in drug trafficking " . After remaining 32 months detained in jail in San jose, Villavicencio and Acacías, a court “precluyó�? the investigation and left him free, on the 30 of November of 2004. Nevertheless, it followed (continued) investigation for falsehood in public document, decision that was appealed and makes proceeding in the Superior Court of Villavicencio. While he was imprisoned, through the embassy they contacted a half brother whom he has in his natal Ulm . "apparently he did not recognize me in the photo that they sent to him. That he said to have a brother but that he didn't know well enough if he lived in Colombia ". He says that when he went out of the jail the only thing that had was the telephone of a friend in Villavo. he called it and he left him to stay in his house for a few days. Víctor Montejo, a zorrero of Villavicencio describes Yethon as a good man, that he is solely dedicated to work. On the possibility of returning to Germany he assures that in the embassy they said to him that they helped him, but says that in that nation there are 5 million of unemployed and because of that he doesn't want to return. For the moment he lives in an small room located in a warehouse of a hardware store. Alliél himself washes and irons his clothes. He says that every day he earns an average of 3.000 cop a day. he doesn't have Sisbén.(It's like National health insurance) . At first sight Yethon pass unnoticed. His blond hair, blue eyes and a little accent of his maternal language do not expose it. Nevertheless, his work companions know that he is German. And he, does not discard to die in Colombia, but of natural death, for that reason he will continue in Villavo, carrying bulks of cement and rod, thus, in Guaviare he has a property, to which he has not returned for fear. ` I can't say that I am going to die in Colombia, because life have so many twist. but If I return to Germany I would finish in an old people's home, and I don't want that.` Rudolf Yethon
if you want to see a picture of him go to

Rudolf Yethon Pic

By kat1 (Moderator) on Feb 13, 2006, 09:15 in Friendly Talkzone.

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 13, 2006, 09:29:

Why he wasn't sent back to his country, when the Army capture him, by that time he was in the country illegally i supposed. why they let him stayed?.

engage brain before opening mouth

plokij says on Feb 13, 2006, 10:24:

kat1 He looks German alright, but no way Yethon is a German
last name. Its correct spelling must have been corrupted
during his odyssee..

tobntno says on Feb 13, 2006, 11:00:

No German name Yes - I was just about to say that but than I looked up the name in the phonebook and found
this

According to this the only German with the name of Yethon lives in Germany and has the same first name, too!

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 13, 2006, 11:16:

He said his Dad was a soldier from The USA, so he might be of American origin. I dunno know. I have never seen him in Villavo. next time i am going to check every zorrero jejej

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 13, 2006, 11:16:

why this post looks like this

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Monpirri says on Feb 13, 2006, 11:43:

Kat1 Thank you sharing Rudol "Yethon a poor German in Colombia"
Sad story, indeed. Just like many other cases that happen in Colombia and in other coutries. I would like to help but I need some more info.
I'm sorry, Are you looking for him? Or do want him to return to Germany or USA? Is he missing? I do not know??
Please advise.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

mariasman says on Feb 13, 2006, 12:08:

wow poor guy

mariasman

latinlife says on Feb 13, 2006, 14:29:

Makes a change..... ...since the Germans always do well when it comes to penalties !!!

Atrevido says on Feb 13, 2006, 17:17:

I ran accross another old German mechanic in El Valle on the pacific coast. He fixes the few generaters in the village when he's sober.

morphus says on Feb 13, 2006, 17:19:

weird He did'nt have one friend or family member in Germany to help him out with a plane ticket? If thats the case, he's better off in Colombia anyway.

plokij says on Feb 14, 2006, 01:20:

tobntno

thanks for the lookup in the telephone directory.

According to the entry, the person resides in a city
called Schelklingen - which turns out to be close to
Ulm, the city thats mentioned in the newspaper article:

www.schelklingen.de

Just klick on the map thumbnail.

BTW - thanks for translating, Kat1 !

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 14, 2006, 05:09:

Monpirri no, I am not looking for him lol, Villavicencio it's a very small city so I am surprise I haven't seen him.
Morphus, Many people in Europe are like him, they don't have big or close families, how this "brother" didn't wanted to know more about him. you probably right he is better staying in Colombia, at least he have good friends and they are his family now. but i wonder how he didn't have lots of girls here I am sure one of them would have helped him. He is not that bad looking for his age.

engage brain before opening mouth

Monpirri says on Feb 14, 2006, 06:11:

Kat1 Ok, may I contact you via PM about Rudolf Yethon?

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

morphus says on Feb 14, 2006, 15:54:

I know I once read about a German man that died alone at home watching TV. Nobody knew for 2 years. He had a pension and all his bills were paid electronically.

tobntno says on Feb 14, 2006, 19:15:

Sorry for the long link had no idea it would screw the layout up like this.

Anyhow - I was thinking about this a little bit today: if he would acutally go back to Germany he could make A LOT OF MONEY just telling his stories on Talkshows, Newspapers, Magazines etc. and he could even get his autobiography published.

But this whole thing makes little sense to me - why would he come to Colombia in the 80s - when things were really bad around here and Germany was -economically speaking- doing much much better than it is nowadays. I can't make sense of it.

This story has burned itself in my mind so badly that I even thought I saw him in the TransMilenio today (obviously it was just somebody who resembled him fairly well).

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 15, 2006, 04:19:

tobn He lives in Villavicencio,I want to ask my Dad if he has seen him, my parents live in Villavo so maybe.

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Tinto (Moderator) says on Feb 15, 2006, 05:56:

You should be able to go into your post and remove the super long link

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 15, 2006, 06:01:

how you do that tinto, with the original post, because I can't edit it. to make it easier to read.

engage brain before opening mouth

Monpirri says on Feb 21, 2006, 14:16:

How is Rudolf doing? Has anyone heard from him? Let's help find this guy.

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Lionheart says on Feb 21, 2006, 20:04:

I edited the link and some thoughts about Germany The link looks better now.

Sad but true, the families in Germany aren't tight together anymore, at least not in the most cases. I am experiencing this myself, an occasional email from my mother once or twice a year to check if I am alive, then silence. Even when I was still living in Germany the contact wasn't frequent, even when I still lived in the same town.

I can believe it that nobody really cares what happened to him. Germany has a high divorce rate, many more people never get married, just live together until they break up and move on. The birthrate for Germans is negative, only immegrants have kids, so in a century or so there will be no more Germans with a German heritage.

I had a young childhood with my grandparents in the US military, traveling back and forth, and we had a huge family in the USA, with was very close. I have always missed that in Germany. Now with my experiences with Latinas I am enjoying the life in families again, I hope they stay close and do not follow the German example. I am seeing the same trend in the USA, especially amoungst younger succesful business people = yuppies ... their careers are more important than family or partners.

Monpirri says on Feb 22, 2006, 15:57:

Germany very pretty country! I have great memories from Germany. I always wanted to purchase a cuckoo clock from Bavaria, but never did, at least not yet.
I missed from there Jägerschnitzel, the German bakeries (pastries and cakes)
Oh, aged salami with bread and beer, what a great combination and certainly the pretty fräuleins.

Auf Wiederehen!

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

ronald1168 says on Mar 2, 2006, 04:47:

Innocent?!? "Arrestan a sospechoso de entrenar a las FARC
(1:47 p.m.) BOGOTA, (AFP) — Las autoridades colombianas arrestaron el jueves último en el sureste del país a un alemán que identificaron como Rudolf Yethon, bajo sospecha de entrenar a los guerrilleros de las FARC en tácticas terroristas, informó este lunes el jefe de la IV División del ejército, el general Arcesio Barrero.
"Este hombre fue capturado en (el selvático departamento de) Guaviare y hay serias sospechas de que entrenaba a los guerrilleros", dijo el general a los periodistas.
Barrero, con jurisdicción en Guaviare y otros departamentos del sureste de Colombia, señaló que las autoridades creen que Yethon entrenaba a los rebeldes en el manejo de explosivos y equipos de comunicaciones

ronald@donders.co.uk

Monpirri says on Mar 21, 2006, 04:17:

Kat1 Ronald1168 said that Rudolf Yethon was arrested.
I think he is talking about a different Rodolf Yethon or is he the same German?

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

Monpirri says on Mar 21, 2006, 04:24:

Kat1 Ronald1168 said that Rudolf Yethon was arrested.
I think he is talking about a different Rodolf Yethon or is he the same German?

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

kat1 (Moderator) says on Mar 21, 2006, 04:26:

I know he said he was arrested ages ago, so I havent's heard any news about him in any newspapers. I just wonder where Ronald read that news and how long ago ago. It would be very interesting.

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