The return of the long-lost Rolf Bantle (Swiss Press Text 2016, by Rahel Koerfgen) - Swiss Press Award

Schweiz am Sonntag

Rahel Koerfgen

Sometimes something small can become something very big. I would never have believed that a story I wrote would go around the world. But that's exactly what happened to the story of Rolf Bantle, the 71-year-old Basel native who got lost during a soccer match at the San Siro Stadium in August 2004, couldn't find his group, and subsequently lived on the streets of Milan for ten years. Shortly after the first article appeared on November 1, 2015, media around the globe – in addition to almost all national publications – picked up the story: European media outlets such as those in England ("The Sun," "The Daily Mirror"), Italy ("La Repubblica," "Sport Mediaset"), France, Spain, and Turkey, as well as overseas outlets such as Nigeria, the USA, and even Australia. It all began with a small entry in the Basel-Stadt cantonal newspaper, which I discovered at the end of October 2015. According to it, "the declaration of missing person in the case of Rolf Bantle was lifted due to his reappearance." I was taken aback: once someone is considered missing, they usually don't reappear. I visited Bantle a few days later in his new home, the "zum Lamm" retirement home in Basel, where he told me a brief version of his experiences. I knew then that this was a very big story. But Bantle was undecided about whether he wanted to go public with it. His caregiver was also anything but enthusiastic. However, I sensed that there was a great sympathy between Bantle and me from the very beginning, so I told him he should take his time with his decision. Four days later, he called me to say he was ready to make the story public. I visited Bantle several times, taking my time. I sensed that he had to gain trust in me. He also needed several attempts to activate his memories – due to his alcohol abuse of the past few years, he sometimes had trouble connecting the dots, and there were gaps that I had to activate by going back in time together. It was a wonderful time; we laughed a lot. Rolf Bantle is an alcoholic, but almost sober today. I realized this at the first meeting. However, it was important to me not to condemn this in any way in my reporting, or even to pillory Bantle. I think I succeeded in doing this in a sensitive, non-judgmental way. And I'm glad about that, because I have the utmost respect for him and his life story; he had anything but an easy life. And that's why, in the first article, I presented exclusively his perspective, wanted to give him this platform and leave no room for anyone who might contradict him. Because that's what happened to him repeatedly throughout his life. Only in the second article did I allow the director of the home where Bantle lived before his disappearance to have his say. After the first article was published, there was a lot of hype surrounding Bantle. So much so that two days later, he decided to stop giving interviews. He only wanted to talk to me, he told me. This made me very happy, because it showed me that I had done everything right in my dealings with him and the way I told his story. Bantle was even willing to visit his old home on the Dietisberg near Läufelfingen in my presence for the first time in eleven years. This resulted in the second article, published on November 8, 2015. Perhaps Rolf Bantle's story isn't the most relevant. But it goes straight to the heart. And we need stories like that – ones with a happy ending.