Operation Kaninchenjagd

Operation Kaninchenjagd ("Operation rabbit hunting") is one of two titles of an anonymous paper[1] that became public in September 2016 and led to accusations against the German politician and incumbent general secretary of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), Peter Tauber. It is alleged that Mr. Tauber – who was at that time member of the CDU and the (regional) chairman of the Young Union in Hesse – was involved in (attempted) bullying of another member and employee of the CDU.

The eight pages long paper "Operation Kaninchenjagd" has no date but it is undisputed by all and supported by the content that it was created in 2006 after the election of Tom Zeller as new local chairman of the CDU in the Main-Kinzig district and the paper is addressed to him by the salutation "Lieber Tom" (Dear Tom). In an early interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau, Tom Zeller implied that Sebastian Zimmer or Peter Tauber or both were the authors of the paper.[2]

In 2006 the new guard around Tom Teller and others, including Mr. Tauber, wanted to dismiss Mrs. Anne Höhne-Weigl who was at that time the (local) manager of the party in the Main-Kinzig district and also a member of the district council.[3] As German law made it difficult for an employer to dismiss an employee when serving as a member of a parliament or council, the paper "Operation Kaninchenjagd" elaborates how to persuade her into signing a termination agreement.[4] If she wouldn't give in it is recommended in the paper to harass her and to threaten her to dismiss her daughter.[5] But Mrs. Anne Höhne-Weigl found the paper at that time and was therefore warned and she worked for the party til her retirement in 2014.[6]

On 29 September 2016, the county chairman of the CDU in Main-Kinzig fiercely defended in a public statement Mr. Tauber and thereby attacked a "former employee" (feminine form, most likely Mrs. Anne Höhne-Weigl).[7] On 30 September 2016, Mr. Tauber spoke at the regional assembly of the CDU in Bruchköbel and acknowledged that he knew the paper and that it was against the values of the party and regretted that he didn't report it, but denied any involvement in the creation. He further alleged that those who published the paper were guilty of harming the party.[8]

Notes
  1. The paper consists of 8 pages with the title Operation Kaninchenjagd ("Operation rabbit hunting") and an additional cover page with the sole title Pflegehinweise für das Kaninchen ("Care instructions for the rabbit").
  2. Auf die Frage, wer das Papier „Operation Kaninchenjagd“ geschrieben habe, antwortet Zeller: „Der Sebastian und der Peter. Wie die sich das aufgeteilt haben, weiß ich nicht mehr.“ (On the question who wrote "Operation Kaninchenjagd" said Zeller: "The Sebastian and the Peter. How they split up the task, I can't remember."), see „Operation Kaninchenjagd“ - Mobbing à la Hessen-CDU (Frankfurter Rundschau, 23 September 2016)
  3. Mobbing-Vorwürfe gegen Tauber. Archived 2016-10-01 at the Wayback Machine German TV-Report In: de:Hessenschau, 28 September 2016.
  4. e.g. in section "2. Gespräch mit dem Kaninchen" of the paper it was proposed to offer her a job in the public service (in the district administration or eventually in the city administration) as a substitute for the job in the party. But it is mentioned that one saw the need of a waiting period, in order not to alienate the public. Source: "Pflegehinweise für das Kaninchen", 2006, CDU Main-Kinzig, unofficial paper, leaked to the press and other media. The page can be seen in a video of the German TV-Report of the de:Hessenschau at position 1:19 of the video Archived 2016-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
  5. In section "2. Gespräch mit dem Kaninchen" it was proposed to introduce the aspect of dismissing her daughter in the conversation with Mrs. Höhne-Weigl (see position 1:19 of the video Archived 2016-10-01 at the Wayback Machine) and in section "6. Ausstiegsszenario" it was proposed to fire her daughter at once ("Tochter SOFORT kündigen.", the words "Tochter SOFORT" is seen in the video at position 0:50) if she would dare to resist.
  6. Operation Kaninchenjagd: Neue Mobbing-Vorwürfe gegen CDU-Generalsekretär Peter Tauber (Google-Translation) (Operation rabbit hunting: New bullying allegations against CDU general secretary Peter Tauber), Source: Deutschlandfunk, 2 October 2016
  7. Erklärung zu den aktuellen Vorwürfen gegen den CDU-Bundestagsabgeordneten Dr. Peter Tauber MdB (Declaration on the current allegations against the CDU Bundestag member Dr. Peter Tauber MdB), Google-translation, Source: www.cdu-main-kinzig.de, Author: Johannes Heger, chairman CDU-Kreisverband Main-Kinzig, 29 September 2016)
  8. Tauber bricht sein Schweigen – ein ganz kleines bisschen (Google-translation) (Tauber breaks his silence - a tiny bit), Source: Die Welt, 1 October 2016), with video of Tauber's speech
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