More than half a century since their first attack, the spectre of the Baader-Meinhof Group still casts a long shadow over modern Germany. The Red Army Faction (RAF), as they formally called themselves, embarked on a violent campaign that would become one of Western Europe's most tumultuous chapters of postwar history.
The Birth of Urban Guerrillas
Emerging from the radical student protests of the late 1960s, the RAF transformed from idealistic activists into hardened urban guerrillas. Led by the charismatic Andreas Baader and the intellectual Ulrike Meinhof, the group believed that violent confrontation was the only way to expose what they saw as the fascist tendencies of the West German state.
A Campaign of Fear
The RAF's tactics were shockingly brutal for their time. Their campaign included bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations that targeted political and business figures. The 1977 murder of industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa jet remain among the most traumatic events in Germany's modern history.
The Stammheim Deaths
The mystery surrounding the deaths of Baader, Meinhof, and other core members in Stammheim prison in 1976-77 continues to fuel conspiracy theories. Were these suicides, as officially concluded, or something more sinister? The truth remains elusive, adding to the group's mythic status.
Enduring Legacy
Today, Germany still wrestles with how to remember the RAF. The generation that lived through the terror remains divided between those who saw them as cold-blooded terrorists and others who viewed them as revolutionary heroes fighting against an oppressive system.
The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon represents more than just historical curiosity; it serves as a cautionary tale about how political idealism can descend into violence and how societies struggle to reconcile with their most painful chapters.
