2. The Summer of 77: The Prisoners’ Struggle Heats Up 

  As we saw in yesterday’s installment, by 1977 the Red Army Faction had shown that it had survived the arrests of its founding members five years earlier. Successfully countering isolation, psychological conditioning and sensory deprivation torture, the prisoners had in fact inspired their own successors, and through the strategic use of hunger strikes had come to symbolize resistance to the West German state and U.S.……… Read the rest

1. Seven Years of Struggle Against the State

The first in a series of installments about the Red Army Faction, specifically their 1977 campaign which led to the “German Autumn”…   Seven Years of Struggle Against the State The Red Army Faction had, by this time, engaged in a campaign of armed struggle for seven years, beginning with the action that freed Andreas Baader from custody in 1970 – he had been serving a three-year sentence for setting fire to a department store to protest the war in Vietnam.……… 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

A Brief History Of The Red Army Faction

the following text was written for the newsletter Arm the Spirit, but was only ever published online, where it can be viewed at http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/61/191.html In April 1992, the Red Army Faction (RAF) took the step of unilaterally calling off its campaign of assassinations of key members of the political and economic apparatus as a first step towards a negotiated settlement with the state, a settlement which they insisted must include the release of prisoners, particularly those, such as Bernd Roessner and Ali Jansen, who were in poor health and those who were amongst the longest held, such as Irmgard Moeller, who after 21 years had spent close to half of her life in prison, as well as an agreement which would allow those who were underground to surface.……… Read the rest

RAF-Split Documentation

Index: Helmut Pohl, August 1993 Statement From Brigitte Mohnhaupt, 28.10.93 Reply From The RAF, 2.11.93 Reply From Karl-Heinz Dellwo, 29.10.93 Karl-Heinz Dellwo To Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Early October 1993 Christian Klar, 16.10.93 Rolf Heissler To Birgit Hogefeld, 10.10.93 Eva Haule, 23.10.93 ***** Letter From Helmut Pohl, RAF Prisoner Perhaps now is the time to say something again on our behalf.……… Read the rest

Communiqué Regarding the Murder of Wolfgang Grams

The terror-action of the BAW, BKA, and VS [1], carried out by their killer-troops in the GSG-9 and MEK – the arrest of Birgit Hogefeld and the cold-blooded murder of Wolfgang Grams [2] – have deeply affected us. Even after our one-sided de-escalation in April 1992 [3], we never assumed that the state security apparatus would cease with its actions against us – the fact that their line is that of destruction was made clear in the new escalation of their terror against our imprisoned comrades.……… Read the rest