Red Army Faction

The Red Army Faction (in German: Rote Armee Fraktion; RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, or the Baader-Meinhof Gang, which was one of the core groups within the RAF, was postwar Western Germany's most active left-wing terrorist organization. The RAF referred to its members as "urban guerrillas". It operated from the 1970s to 1998, causing great unrest (especially in the autumn of 1977, which led to a national crisis) and killing dozens of high-profile Germans in its more than 20 years of existence.

Autumn 1977 (German Autumn)

On July 30, 1977, Jürgen Ponto, then head of Dresdner Bank, was shot and killed in front of his house in Oberursel in a kidnapping that went wrong. Those involved were Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Christian Klar, and Susanne Albrecht, the last being Ponto's goddaughter.

Related Topics:
July 30 - 1977 - Jürgen Ponto - Dresdner Bank - Oberursel - Brigitte Mohnhaupt - Christian Klar - Susanne Albrecht

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Following the convictions, Hanns-Martin Schleyer, a former Nazi and officer of the SS who was then President of the German Employers' Association (and thus one of the most powerful industrialists in West Germany) was abducted in a violent kidnapping. On September 5, 1977, his driver was forced to brake when a baby carriage suddenly appeared in the street in front of them. The police escort vehicle behind them was unable to stop in time, and crashed into Schleyer's car. Five masked assailants immediately killed the three policemen and the driver and took Schleyer hostage.

Related Topics:
Hanns-Martin Schleyer - Nazi - SS - September 5 - 1977

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A letter then arrived at the Federal Government, demanding the release of eleven detainees, including those from Stammheim. A crisis squad was formed in Bonn under the lead of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, which, instead of acceding, resolved to employ delaying tactics to give the police time to figure out Schleyer's location. At the same time, a total communication ban was imposed on the prison inmates, who were only allowed visits from government officials and the prison chaplain.

Related Topics:
Bonn - Helmut Schmidt

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The state crisis dragged on for more than a month, while the Bundeskriminalamt carried out its biggest manhunt to date. Matters escalated when, on October 13, 1977, Lufthansa flight LH 181 from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt was hijacked. A group of four Arabs took control of the plane (named Landshut). The leader introduced himself to the passengers as "Captain Mahmud" who would be later identified as Zohair Youssef Akache. When the plane landed in Rome for refuelling, he issued the same demands as the Schleyer kidnappers, plus the release of two Palestinians held in Turkey and payment of USD $15 million.

Related Topics:
Bundeskriminalamt - October 13 - 1977 - Lufthansa - Palma de Mallorca - Frankfurt - Hijacked - Arab - Landshut - Rome - USD

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The Bonn crisis squad again decided not to give in. The plane flew on via Larnaca to Dubai, and then to Oman, where Cptn Jürgen Schumann, whom the hijackers deemed not fully cooperative, was shot on October 16. The aircraft again took off, flown by the remaining second pilot Jürgen Vietor, this time headed for Mogadishu, Somalia.

Related Topics:
Larnaca - Dubai - Oman - Jürgen Schumann - October 16 - Jürgen Vietor - Mogadishu - Somalia

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A high-risk rescue operation was led by Schmidt's former minister and now special officer Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski, who had secretly been flown in from Bonn. At five past midnight (CET) on October 18, the plane was stormed in a seven-minute assault by the GSG-9, an elite unit of the German federal police. All four hijackers were shot; three of them died on the spot. Not one passenger was seriously hurt and Wischnewski was able to phone Schmidt and tell the Bonn crisis squad that the operation had been a success.

Related Topics:
Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski - CET - October 18 - GSG-9

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Half an hour later, German radio broadcast the news of the rescue, to which the Stammheim inmates listened on their hidden radio. In the course of the night, Baader was found dead with a gunshot wound in his head and Ensslin hanged in her cell; Raspe died in hospital the next day. Irmgard Möller, who was wounded, survived and was released from prison in 1994.

Related Topics:
Irmgard Möller - 1994

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The official inquiry concluded that this was a collective suicide, but again conspiracy theories abounded. It is not clear, for example, how Baader managed to obtain a gun in the high-security prison wing specially constructed for the first generation RAF members. Also, it would have been difficult if not impossible for Möller to have herself inflicted the four stab wounds found near her heart. However, independent investigations have shown that the inmates' lawyers were able to smuggle in weapons and equipment in spite of the high security.

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The next day, on October 19, 1977, Schleyer's kidnappers announced that he had been "executed".

Related Topics:
October 19 - 1977

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The events in the autumn of 1977, possibly the biggest criminal and political showdown that Germany has experienced since the end of World War II, are frequently referred to as Der Deutsche Herbst ("German Autumn"). A two-part 1997 television mini-series by Heinrich Breloer called Todesspiel ("Death Game") gives a good account of the events, as far as they can be reconstructed today.

Related Topics:
1977 - World War II - 1997 - Television - Heinrich Breloer

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