Word: winterthur
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Razach Monem Winterthur, Switzerland...
Sure, some residents of the standstill town of Winterthur (pop. 88,000) in the German-speaking part of Switzerland had long felt that the place could use a little excitement. But a pop religious cult gone bananas, a running feud between town and saffron gown, allegations of planted bombs in rosebushes and naked-altar ceremonies in postcard-pretty woods? This was more than anybody had bargained...
...Divine Light Center. The charges against the 49-year-old swami and what the prosecution called the hard core of his 80 followers ranged from theft and trespassing to attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. But most serious of all, the cultists had disturbed the peace of Winterthur...
Though the swami faces up to 20 years in a Swiss slammer, he is unrepentant and rejects the charges as part of the "filth spreading round the world." Whatever the law decides, placid Winterthur will not soon forget the time the cuckoos escaped from their clocks...
There is fear that more-and possibly even more bizarre-attacks may be in the offing. Two weeks ago, a Portuguese Jewish banker was seized and ransomed for $250,000 in Geneva by masked bandits who said it was for "our brethren in Winterthur." Last week British newspapers printed accounts of an Arab plot to kidnap wealthy British Jews for ransom. According to the reports, representatives of Al-Fatah hired members of the London underworld to drug the victims and smuggle them out of Britain to the Middle East. The list of proposed victims included Charles Clore, chairman of Selfridge...