"On April 1, 1991, our Ulrich Wessel squad
shot the president of the Treuhand in Berlin, Detlev Karsten Rohwedder.
Rohwedder had been in key positions in politics and industry for 20 years.
Being installed as Bonn's governor in East Berlin
was meant to crown his career.
Since its annexation,
the former GDR has become a de facto colony of West Germany.
The former GDR's economy is being systematically dismantled.
So that capitalism has free rein to rebuild the country,
according to its demands, while ignoring the needs the uprooted people.
The West German government chose Rohwedder to implement this plan.
And they picked the right man, with his brutality and arrogance.
'Forty years of socialism on the former GDR's territory
had caused more damage than the Second World War,'
he once remarked.
This from a man who only judges the world
in terms of profit and productivity, and for whom human lives don't count.
The Treuhand's actions have caused more harm to people than just job loss.
Not only has it materially harmed millions of the unemployed,
it has impoverished their hearts and minds."
If the Treuhand gets its way…
"For most of the humiliated and insulted people
this development represents the destruction of their way of life.
They are to be confined to the suburbs,
which are designed to isolate people from one another."
"At the same time, sexist behavior against women erupts openly.
Women are the first to be fired when former GDR firms are shut down.
Daycare facilities disappear.
And women are losing their right to choose how many, if any, children to have.
For us in West Germany, this is nothing new.
We view our attack against one architect of this new greater Germany
as an attack that targets the source of this reactionary development."
Why do I feel so lousy?
So lousy
Why do we feel so lousy?
So lousy
"Those who do not fight die little by little.
Freedom can only be gained through the struggle for liberation.
Red Army Faction,
Ulrich Wessel squad."
In my opinion, this confession is the best the RAF has ever written.
It has everything.
GERMANY
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The German Reich…
Nobody has any intention of building a wall.
West and East Germany - a divided nation.
Unity and justice and freedom...
Red Army Faction
Insane attacks by barbaric terrorists
Fatherland
Risen from ruins
Tear down this wall!
Our fatherland, reunited.
Flourish, German fatherland
CAPITALIST
Dr. Detlev Rohwedder, son of a bookseller,
studied law and economics.
In 1979, he became a member of the Board of Hoesch AG in Dortmund,
of which he has been chairman since 1980.
Today, Mr. Rohwedder, you have a reputation
as a tough and determined manager.
Did your profession change you as a person?
I never doubted it was the RAF.
That they hold the political responsibility
and are guilty of committing the murder.
That was clear to me.
The head of the Berlin Treuhand has reportedly been murdered by terrorists.\
The Red Army Faction claims responsibility.
This is one of the usual letters...
the Red Army Faction issues after its attacks.
We, at the Federal Criminal Police Office,
had to analyze its authenticity.
For this, we had several options.
The RAF had its own printing press.
They published letters with the red star, the submachine gun, and "RAF"
using so-called gravure printing.
Once our forensics team was able to compare these prints
under an electron microscope,
we could confirm they came from the same printing plate.
Then we knew it was an RAF original.
What's in this letter of confession?
It's a brief self-incriminating message
written in typical RAF political gibberish.
"In the struggle against the reactionary plans
of Greater Germany and Western Europe
to suppress and exploit the people here."
And so on and so forth.
In a five-page letter, Rohwedder is accused
of being a capitalist strategist and brutal company restructurer.
It is a pamphlet full of quirky, pseudo-revolutionary buzzwords.
Meanwhile, the criminal virility of these people has grown.
They hardly leave any usable traces or clues.
The Red Army Faction was no Red Army.
It was…
If you look at its entire twenty-eight years of existence,
it was, at best, a faction
of a relatively small group of people.
There are people who distinguish between several RAF generations.
Essentially, there was a constant influx of newcomers
being assimilated into the RAF.
They lived like fish in water.
They were urban guerrillas.
They lived underground.
But this group was daring enough to attack
West Germany's political class...
and business elite
and the country's leading figures.
This daring was unprecedented on a historical scale.
Political bombing in West Germany.
A new form of political confrontation
has frightened millions of Germans in recent weeks.
The record of terrorism could hardly look more frightening.
The Federal Prosecutor General Buback
was shot dead in Karlsruhe in the middle of the street.
Jürgen Pronto, a foremost German banker,
died as the result of an assassination attempt.
In the Schleyer abduction case,
increasing evidence suggests that the President of the Employers Association
was murdered by terrorists.
We warned them.
We predicted who would be the next victim.
But at the same time,
I saw that Germany's operational security forces were unable to counter
these predictable attacks by the RAF.
RED ARMY FACTION, 2ND GENERATION LUTZ TAUFER
Rohwedder has always been one of those "desk murders"
who would routinely stop at nothing
when it came to planning misery and desperation
for millions of people, in the interest of power and profit.
In the '80s, Rohwedder made a name for himself
as a brutal corporate reconstructionist.
Stop talking about "our" losses!
Mr. Rohwedder, do you think the workforce likes you?
No, I don't think so.
I also don't think this is what the head of a company
should strive towards or expect.
There needs to be a specific… how can I put it…
not the idea of an enemy, but a person who is clearly responsible
upon whom frustration, existential worries,
disappointed expectations, low wages,
fear of unemployment and the like
can be unloaded.
He eliminates jobs
without creating new opportunities for us!
This is a scandal in a city
which already has an unemployment rate of 18% and rising!
Within just a few years,
he fired over two-thirds of the Hoesch workforce
and led the bankrupt group back to new profits.
For this, he was awarded Manager of the Year in 1983.
His appointment as the governor of Bonn in East Berlin
was the crowning achievement of his career.
Has your experience at Dortmund prepared you for Berlin?
Absolutely, yes.
I believe this experience is why I was offered the job
and why my abilities are trusted,
because there will be a lot of conflict to deal with in the new federal states.
And I believe you'll need someone who's not afraid
to stand before the workers and speak to them.
Let me repeat this to you:
We face a situation that has dramatically worsened.
Gentlemen, I am not the kind of conductor
who doesn't care which direction the train is going.
Is it possible,
that it's easier for you to let people go
because as chairman, you don't know the workers personally?
Yes, certainly.
If you knew each of them personally,
you'd be absorbed in each individual's fate.
This would make decisions more difficult.
But when a company's existence is at stake, certain things must be done.
In the Rohwedder case, I believe it is close to 100% certain
that the so-called third RAF generation was involved and responsible.
The murderers of Treuhand manager Detlev Rohwedder
vanished into thin air.
No useful evidence was found at the crime scene in Düsseldorf.
Investigations have stalled.
Minister of Justice Kinkel returned from his holiday in Switzerland.
His statement on the day after the murder was like an oath.
We estimate the core group has about 15 members.
But frankly, we don't know who these people are.
That's simply due to the small size of the group,
and unlike in the past, they did not leave any clues.
It's true.
Since Hessian Finance Minister Karry was shot dead ten years ago,
and MTU Manager Zimmermann near Munich four years later,
there have been no additional clues.
The 1986 case of Siemens CEO Beckurts remains open.
Likewise, no evidence was found after a similar attack
on Secretary of State Hans Neusel.
As always, the RAF claimed responsibility, but left no incriminating evidence.
The RAF's predictability, which I consider to be a key tenet,
also applies to their behavior towards the authorities.
There was never a case
where the RAF provided intel to the authorities.
Rohwedder…
Let me put it this way...
capitalism was to blame.
But you can't shoot capitalism. Otherwise, someone would have done it a long time ago.
I am Lutz Taufer. Together with five other people,
I attacked the German embassy in Stockholm and we killed two hostages.
Two of our people also died.
I spent 20 years in prison,
mostly in different forms of solitary confinement.
The "third generation…"
I'm not quite sure who they were.
I did not have contact with these people.
Perhaps, I've met one of them since then without knowing who they were.
Of course, the RAF was communist,
socialist, leftist in some form.
We hoped to fight the global system
which gave rise to both fascism and colonialism.
We wanted to fight, overcome, and smash the existing system,
so that a different system,
a more humane society, could take its place.
I was part of the first post-war generation
in a country that had started two world wars.
I grew up in a culture
where fascism hadn't yet been rejected.
One of my teachers came to class with a portable record player.
He made us listen to recordings of Hitler's speeches.
This German people have grown strong again,
strong in spirit, strong in will…
When I was 16 or 17 years old,
I learned that six million Jews had been killed during World War II.
Now, I know my father was in the SS.
His only reaction was, "Who told you this nonsense?"
This is where I got my motivation
to escape such narrow-mindedness.
Around the same time, the Vietnam War was going on.
We took to the streets to demonstrate
for peace in Vietnam.
People should have applauded us.
But they spat on us.
They…
Exterminate them, I say!
That would be best...
Eradicate them!
Shoot them.
They live off our hard-earned tax money.
Away with them. Up against the wall and shoot them!
People shouted at us, "They forgot to gas you!"
That was the situation back then.
We were in a country where we couldn't breathe.
Nobody wanted us.
We had no chance of starting a normal life in this environment.
We did everything we could to overpower the system.
On April 24, 1975,
six terrorists occupied the German Embassy in Stockholm.
They demanded the release of RAF prisoners.
After the West German government rejected their demands,
they shot two embassy personnel and detonated their bombs.
Put it on the air!
We're at the German Embassy and just heard a massive explosion.
Our goal was to free... sixteen prisoners, I think.
And in the end, there were four dead...
and four people with life sentences.
Help!
There had never been such a violent attack before.
All... our actions...
were also meant to inspire others...
who would see us as an example and join the armed struggle.
We had many discussions back then.
Violence: yes or no?
Is it a legitimate means or isn't it?
I always felt,
if I wanted to really fight the system,
I needed to do so with full conviction.
I believe, the members of the RAF were willing to sacrifice everything,
even their own lives.
And I thought…
I thought this was special.
So first, I burned all my documents
in order to become a member of the RAF.
Right after that I was given a gun.
Silke Maier-Witt, 27 years of age, is considered very dangerous.
She's accused of participating in several serious crimes.
Silke Maier-Witt is 1.71 meters tall with a slender build.
She has blue eyes and dark blonde hair.
Her distinct feature is several missing teeth.
I was responsible for hiring cars.
I learned how to forge passports...
things like that.
POLICE
WANTED TERRORISTS
Sixteen RAF members are on the run, but the police know who they are.
A manhunt is ongoing.
Report any useful information, to your nearest police station.
By 1980…
the RAF was basically...
on its knees due to an incident.
A coincidence had led to a wave of arrests in Frankfurt.
The entire RAF leadership was apprehended.
It was a major achievement, especially the capture of Christian Klar.
Without a doubt, he was the RAF's main assassin.
He had ruthlessly killed several people.
We were convinced, "Now we've got them. That's it."
With all those arrests, the RAF was effectively ended.
We were literally…
"headless."
Then…
one of our group made contact with the Stasi.
And they told us…
we were going to the GDR.
My next question was, "What do I know about the GDR?"
Nothing, really.
I was disappointed at first,
because I thought, "What revolutionary action could I do in the GDR?"
ENTRY FOR CITIZENS OF WEST GERMANY AND OTHER COUNTRIES LONG-TERM STAY
We then received our GDR ID cards
and became official GDR citizens.
Already, this was a brash move,
but I had to hand it to the Stasi,
which handled it very professionally.
Their resumes were rewritten,
they were provided with accommodations
and suitable jobs.
Everything was done for them...
so that they could settle in their new socialist homeland.
But at the same time, their every step was watched...
with the greatest suspicion.
It was 24/7 surveillance.
Someone used to drop by regularly.
And I thought,
"I'm really at the mercy of this organization."
But what was my alternative? Go to prison? For the same length of time?
The RAF developed a capability
rarely seen in terrorist organizations.
They managed to turn every defeat into a victory.
Whenever the state succeeded in weakening the RAF,
the RAF always managed to recruit new members.
The last, third, generation of the RAF
was characterized...
by unusual criminal energy
and discipline.
What's also striking is that,
to this very day, their biggest crimes
are nowhere near being solved...
in terms of finding the perpetrators...
and understanding their actions.
FEDERAL CRIMINAL POLICE OFFICE UNDERCOVER AGENT
For all the attacks launched since 1983,
many hold the so-called "third generation" of the RAF responsible.
I just don't believe this.
I don't think this third generation ever existed.
I have worked for the Federal Criminal Police Office for 35 years...
as a police investigator.
I just don't believe the RAF…
from 1987 onwards,
and probably earlier,
could execute such precise attacks, such as the ones on Rohwedder
and also Herrhausen.
FRANKFURT NOVEMBER 30, 1989
16 MONTHS UNTIL THE MURDER
Good evening.
The head of Deutsche Bank
Alfred Herrhausen was murdered today by terrorists.
The attack has shaken German society,
because Alfred Herrhausen ruled a business empire.
The terror group known as the Red Army Faction may be behind the murder.
Investigators call this "high-tech terror"
and blame what may be a third RAF generation.
Here you see our colleagues on site.
This officer is part of the Crime Scene Unit.
You can clearly see the force with which the Red Army Faction's bomb
burst into Herrhausen's armored vehicle.
They used a self-made hollow charge,
set off by a photo sensor.
The sensor itself had to be primed by someone nearby.
First, the escort vehicle went past, then the sensor was primed,
and then the blast ripped into the right rear door.
There are only a few people in Germany,
mostly military or explosives experts, who could build something like this.
It gave us a lot to think about.
Who could have pulled this off?
I was there myself at the Herrhausen crime scene.
I live nearby.
I heard this huge bang,
so I drove over there and saw what had happened.
It was a completely new way of carrying out an assassination.
All prior attacks had been rather crude.
Drive-by shootings on motorcycles and things like that.
These were not typical for the RAF.
Herrhausen was assassinated with an elaborate trap
and Rohwedder was assassinated with an exceptional sniper shot.
These highly precise operations…
in my view, were military-style.
The Rohwedder case…
I have great doubts about who was behind that.
It was a precise shot from about 60 meters
in difficult lighting conditions - the window would have refracted the light.
These are conditions only a professional can master.
Karsten Rohwedder's study, where he was shot dead.
Using a laser beam,
the Federal Police are tracing the ballistic curve
and the exact location from where the shots were fired.
-Move towards the right. -The right.
Stop, this should be it.
A little higher.
-Lower. Now? -A little higher and to the right.
A little higher and to the right. Stop!
-Yes. -This is exactly the position.
-Yes. -Exactly.
We're directing a laser through the window to trace the bullets
and to determine the exact location of the gunman in this garden.
We plan to do a second procedure to reconstruct the scene
with a G1 rifle like the one used.
We never found the rifle.
But we found the casings,
which was essential for determining what kind of weapon was used.
A microscopic analysis of the bullets
showed that the same rifle was used a few weeks earlier
to attack the US embassy in Bonn.
7 WEEKS
UNTIL THE MURDER
Our news office in Bonn reports that a terrorist attack was made
against the US Embassy in Bonn this evening.
The big building was apparently fired on with machine guns from across the Rhine.
More than 200 shots were fired,
but not a single potential victim was in sight.
What an amateurish attack!
They shot at the US Embassy from across the river.
We thought this was too amateurish for RAF standards.
And just a few weeks later the same rifle is used to kill Rohwedder?
We had nothing, absolutely nothing.
It is striking
that after each precise attack, a very amateurish one would follow.
In my opinion, this only serves to obscure
the actual motives and perpetrators.
Let's assume the generation theory is true.
How can it be that no member of the third generation
has ever surfaced or been identified by the authorities?
How is it that this generation
virtually left no traces at all,
meaning there's no longer any kind of objective proof?
Indeed…
This is a point one can make.
But I, who always tried to think in RAF categories,
I am certain that if the RAF says it was them,
then it was them!
In preparation for our talk,
I re-read the old confession letters.
1985, '86, '87.
The attacks during that time and the letters...
were all coherent.
However, the Rohwedder confession
is very different from the previous ones.
All of us who are fighting to live our lives with dignity
in a world free of rulers.
We should roll up our sleeves and become a common force.
The revolutionary movement
must develop a real and concrete human perspective.
The seed of a new society must grow,
a society where people start living together without rulers
in a self-determined manner.
We are prepared to work with anyone
who feels that this capitalist reality is suffocating them.
"The revolutionary movement must become an actual and prominent political force."
This means the RAF…
wanted to show people a way out.
Certainly, this is a well-thought-out political strategy,
but it is impossible to make a reality.
Not even with violence.
The people in the GDR wanted something completely different.
MARCH 14, 1990
HELMUT KOHL IS COMING TO LEIPZIG
OPERA HOUSE SQUARE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 5:00 P.M.
Helmut!
What already bothered me back then
was the idea that everything that came from the West was good.
That no one scrutinized this,
that no one said,
"Now this is capitalism,
and it isn't good."
Helmut!
On March 14, 1883,
Karl Marx died.
On March 14, 1990,
we lay his philosophy to rest.
I want to tell our fellow Germans in the GDR,
no one will be worse off, and many will be better off.
It was clear to me that nothing in the GDR would survive.
So the inevitable happened.
The hardware chains opened.
And when the first Coke cans littered the streets,
it was clear that all this stuff had arrived.
I found it all disgusting.
And in the supermarket, I thought,
"My God! This can't be real!
Who needs 50, 60 different types of yogurt?"
Before, in the GDR, we had one with strawberry flavor and one without.
That sufficed, too!
The free-market system pretends to offer people a chance
to secure a spot in the wealthy country called Greater Germany,
and to revel in the euphoria of consumption.
When in reality, the system is designed
to make people ignorant and apathetic.
If security exists at all, it only exists for those who are prepared
to unconditionally sell themselves to a greater degree than others.
For most of the humiliated and insulted people,
this development represents the destruction of their way of life.
It was and is state policy,
to beat the propaganda drum of "Germany, our one and only fatherland,"
which has made nationalism socially acceptable again,
especially in the former GDR.
This vitriolic mantra of "Now we are somebody again!
Finally, we are real Germans!"
Germany!
Since the dissolution of the GDR, openly racist attacks against refugees
and foreign residents have flared up.
Out! Out! Foreigners out!
Fascist groups have gained in strength,
resulting in almost daily attacks against hostels housing foreigners.
Germany above all else
Above the whole wide world
I'm impressed. My hat's off.
What a comprehensive analysis.
Not badly formulated either.
But it doesn't fit in with the assassination, does it?
"The creation of revolutionary forces…"
By killing Rohwedder, this is not a goal you could…
have accomplished.
This doesn't make any sense.
Why Rohwedder?
Why him, given all the ideology involved?
He wasn't really a hardliner or anything.
Nobody can answer this question.
Unless, there is a different motivation behind all this.
If this was done by the Stasi or someone else…
as a copycat action, well, I'd be impressed.
The RAF was an ideal scapegoat.
The RAF was always blamed whenever an attack took place.
Whenever something happened back then, the word was: RAF.
But one must try to embark
on this endless adventure of speculation:
who benefits?