Read more
Ulrike Meinhof was one of the founding members of the Red Army Faction. This followed her lengthy involvement in the protest movements of the 1960s, during which she had become the left’s most respected journalist in the Federal Republic of Germany. Incarcerated and held in isolation after her arrest in June 1972, she died in 1976 in her prison cell, having been subjected to years of torture as well as police and media smear campaigns. For this collection, in order to show who she really was, her surviving comrades in arms have released the letters she wrote for the group’s internal discussion in prison, as well as a number of texts delivered during the main Stammheim trial against members of the RAF.
With an introduction and comments by her former comrades, as well as chronological and bibliographical references, this volume includes the last texts that Meinhof had prepared for the prisoners’ collective, in which she played an active part, alongside a statement that she presented at another trial, regarding the group’s founding act: the prison breakout of Andreas Baader, in addition to other texts, some published here for the first time in English.
List of contents
Introduction
On the Effects of the Silent Wing
From the “Info” Discussion 1973–1974
Regarding Mahler
Regarding Mahler and His Writing Once Again
To the Women in Berlin
To Nelly and the Other Prisoners in Berlin
Early September 1974
Regarding the First Day of the Trial
Statement Regarding the Liberation of Andreas from Prison
Interview During the Hunger Strike
Letter to a Lawyer Regarding the Application of the High Treason Law
Documents from the 1975–1976 Discussion
To the Prisoners in Hamburg
We Determine It Like This
Fighting Together
To Hanna
Class Position
Fragment Regarding the Structure of the Group
Statements and Preparations for the Trials
Extracts from the Statement at the Stammheim Trial
A Letter from Ulrike for the Discussion in Stammheim
History of West Germany and the Old Left
October Revolution—The Third International
Andreas and Ulrike’s Concept for Another Trial
A Few Words About Röhl
An Account of Giovanni Cappelli’s Visit
Jan Raspe on Ulrike’s Death
Ulrike Meinhof Commando Communiqué
Chronology
Further Reading
About the author
Ulrike Meinhof was one of the founding members of the Red Army Faction, after a long experience in the mobilizations of the protest movements of the 1960s, and after she had become the movement’s most respected journalist. Incarcerated and isolated after her arrest in June 1972, she died on May 9, 1976.
