red army faction

About this Section

This section consists of documents either by the Red Army Faction, by former RAF members, prisoners from the RAF, or others who were “in the milieu”. Unless otherwise indicated, they have all been translated by André Moncourt and J. Smith.……… Read the rest

Inge Viett, 1944-2022

Several weeks ago, we learned that Inge Viett had died. She passed on May 9, at the age of 78. We offer the following notes to English-speaking readers, so that they can know something of this former guerilla and her legacy.……… Read the rest

Historiography and Armed Struggle, by Ron Augustin

(Talk at the University of Amsterdam, June 2016) In every epoch, the attempt must be made to deliver tradition anew from the conformism which is on the point of overwhelming it. —Walter Benjamin The RAF’s history spans a period of thirty years.……… Read the rest

On Christian Klar and Klaus Viehmann’s Criticisms (Inge Viett, February 9, 2011)

Dear Comrades, Just as Christian and Klaus published their texts, I would now like to publish mine. “If you happen to read in the papers that Lenin has had me arrested for stealing the silver spoons in the Kremlin, that simply means I’m not entirely in agreement with him.”—Alexandra……… Read the rest

On the Rosa Luxemburg Conference and Inge Viett (Christian Klar, January 2011)

In Europe, there has been wave after wave of economic crises, and the masses are feeling the repercussions. Social protest is growing—massively in places like Greece, France, and Spain. Since the 2008 international financial crisis, the capitalist social order is no longer an unquestioned framework in the general public’s discussions.……… Read the rest

A note regarding the current situation – by some who have been RAF members at various points in time May 2010

A document from the Red Army Faction, a West German anti-imperialist guerilla group which existed from the 1970s-1990s.

“We Wanted to Push the Revolutionary Process Forward” junge Welt interview with Helmut Pohl and Rolf Clemens Wagner

The interview was conducted by Rüdiger Göbel, Peter Rau, Wera Tichter, and Gerd Schumann. junge Welt: The media has squeezed everything possible out of the 2007 anniversary of the “German Autumn.” The events of 1977 came to a bitter end. The way it is being depicted on TV, on the radio, and in the print media constitutes a sort of hysterical coming to terms with the Red Army Faction (RAF): The Stammheim Night (Spiegel), a series; The Terror Years (Die Zeit), a special issue; The Bourgeois Children’s War, a primetime ARD documentary.……… Read the rest

Christian Klar’s Message to the 2007 Rosa Luxemburg Congress

First published in junge Welt on January 15, 2007; republished in Spiegel 9/2007; February 26, 2007 (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,468710,00.html). Dear Friends, The theme of this year’s Rosa Luxemburg Congress, “Things Can Be Different,” means – to my understanding – critically assessing the inspiring developments in a number of Latin American countries of late. ……… Read the rest

For Us It Was a Question of Learning Explosives and Shooting Techniques (Helmut Pohl Interviewed by the Frankfurter Rundschau)

The following interview with Helmut Pohl was originally published as “RAF bestätigt Ausbildung an Waffen in der DDR; Helmut Pohl dementiert Spionage im Auftrag der Stasi” in the July 7, 1991, Frankfurter Rundschau. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall had fallen, and soon afterwards the entire GDR was annexed by the FRG.……… Read the rest

THE STAMMHEIM MODEL: Judicial Counterinsurgency

[This article was published is New Studies on the Left, Vol. XIV, Nos. 1 & 2 (1989). The author, Michael Ryan, wrote it after a period of living in West Germany in the mid-eighties.] On May 4, 1988 Julio Rosado, a member of the Moviemiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN), spoke in Montréal, addressing the topic Resistance and Repression in Puerto Rico. ……… Read the rest

Boock’s Lies

At the time this statement was issued, Peter-Jürgen Boock had never been more popular with the liberal intelligentsia. In 1985 former SDS leader Peter Schneider coauthored a book with him examining the armed experience; the next year, following a legal appeal backed by many progressives, his sentence was reduced to a single life term.……… Read the rest