Daniela Widmer und David Och

AND TOMORROW YOU WILL BE DEAD
259 days as hostages of the Taliban
Live report by and with Daniela Widmer and David Och

An overland journey to Asia, off the beaten track, full of curiosity about foreign cultures. But Daniela Widmer and David Och's thirst for adventure ends in the violence of the Pakistani Taliban. For eight and a half months, they are held hostage by Islamic fundamentalists and forced to surpass themselves. At the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart, they tell their incredible and deeply emotional story.
In an old VW bus along the Silk Road to India and the Himalayas, virtually into the Bernese Oberland of the Indian subcontinent - this was the destination of the two Swiss nationals Daniela Widmer and David Och. A long-cherished dream. They set off full of joy and openness. At first everything goes well, the journey is fun, the encounters are warm. On the way back through Pakistan, however, the unthinkable happens: they are dragged out of their vehicle by an armed commando and taken 500 kilometers north to the border with Afghanistan, to Waziristan, the Taliban's heartland. The "holy warriors" saw the two Europeans as an opportunity to free imprisoned fellow believers and collect a ransom. What followed were 259 days in fear of death and uncertainty. During their captivity, Daniela and David learned the Pashun language in order to communicate and build up a relationship with their kidnappers. They planned everything meticulously, but also discarded and recreated plans and had three possible variants ready for the night of their escape. On March 15, 2012, they begin to reclaim their second life themselves...
Daniela Widmer and David Och describe their experiences in a vivid, captivating and touching way and report on the strategies they used to cope with the extreme exceptional situation, the constant threat, hunger and illness. In doing so, they provide rare and extremely interesting insights into a world and culture that is unimaginable for us.
Daniela Widmer and David Och published their story together under the title "Und morgen seid ihr tot" (And tomorrow you'll be dead) with DuMont Verlag; the book reached number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list in Switzerland.
In 2021, their experiences were also made into a film by Swiss director Michael Steiner. Daniela Widmer was awarded the "Best Story" prize for her presentation at the Discovery Days in 2023.

Daniela Widmer
Daniela Widmer spent her childhood in the Reuss Valley in the canton of Aargau and was often out and about in the mountains with her family. After finishing school and completing an apprenticeship as a businesswoman, she began training with the police and worked for two years with the Bern cantonal police. She later managed a restaurant in Zermatt, worked as an assistant manager in a hotel and has been mayor of the municipality of Bellikon since 2019. She lives there with her partner and two children.

David Och
David Och trained as a teacher and worked for several years in a facility for adults with multiple disabilities. He later became a cantonal police officer and, after returning from Pakistan, joined the Swiss military, where he took part in peace-building missions abroad. At the same time, he studied psychology and graduated in 2021 with a master's degree in criminology and criminal psychology. He now works as a drone technician in the canton of St. Gallen, where he lives with his wife and two children.