RTÉ Documentaries

Face Down: the Disappearance of Thomas Niedermayer (2023x7)

: 27, 2023

The story of how one man’s abduction from his Belfast home in December 1973 resulted in decades of mental and emotional trauma for generations of his family, with tragic consequences. Face Down follows the last remaining relatives of Thomas Neidermayer, granddaughters Tanya and Rachel, as they uncover the shocking truth behind the tragic events of 50 years ago that still haunt their family to this day. Thomas Niedermayer was a German-born businessman who, with his wife Ingeborg and two young daughters Gabriele and Renate, made Belfast their home in 1960. But in 1973 the IRA kidnapped Thomas; the plan was reportedly to exchange his release for the transfer of Republican prisoners Dolours and Marian Price from jail in England to one in Northern Ireland. Within days of his kidnap Thomas was dead – understood to have been killed by the IRA when he tried to escape. They secretly buried his body and denied any involvement. The mental and emotional turmoil for his wife Ingeborg, and daughters