[Note of Sans Nom: In Germany’s seventh-largest city, Düsseldorf, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, the “Angry Birds Commando” is a regular topic of conversation.

In August 2024, for example, they claimed responsibility for setting fire to railway signal cables in Mettmann, adding to their previous sabotages against rail traffic: one in Düsseldorf in January 2024, and five others in the same city claimed in May 2023. And since the angry birds can also be generous, last September they published a little manual entitled “Kabel anzünden für Beginner” [“Setting fire to cables for beginners”], which contains a number of homemade delay techniques.

But let’s move on to more recent news: on Thursday night, shortly before 6 a.m. on Friday January 24, a fire broke out in a cable shaft near Eller station, a district in the south-east of Düsseldorf, interrupting rail traffic on the city’s most important freight line, as well as passenger line S1 between Düsseldorf and Solingen. This time, while the Angry Birds Commando’s communiqué no. 3 was written in rhyme, the one published the following day on de.indymedia and entitled “Switch off Deutsche Bahn – Communiqué no. 4” is in the form of an open letter. 

Below is a translation, which develops its own vision of collapse, as a contribution to the ongoing debates within the revolutionary movement.]

On Friday morning (January 24), we used tried-and-tested methods to take Düsseldorf’s most important freight line out of service for at least 12 hours. For at least 24 hours, its use was only possible with severe restrictions. In addition to the immediate economic damage, we would like to draw your attention to the following appeal. We would also like to apologize to the travelers affected, and hope that at least a few commuters were able to enjoy a day off as a result.

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