1
00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,360
"On April 1, 1991,
our Ulrich Wessel squad

2
00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,200
shot the president of the Treuhand
in Berlin, Detlev Karsten Rohwedder.

3
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,400
Rohwedder had been in key positions
in politics and industry for 20 years.

4
00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,440
Being installed
as Bonn's governor in East Berlin

5
00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,320
was meant to crown his career.

6
00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,040
Since its annexation,

7
00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,640
the former GDR has become
a de facto colony of West Germany.

8
00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,760
The former GDR's economy
is being systematically dismantled.

9
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,720
So that capitalism
has free rein to rebuild the country,

10
00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,360
according to its demands, while ignoring
the needs the uprooted people.

11
00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,680
The West German government
chose Rohwedder to implement this plan.

12
00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,560
And they picked the right man,
with his brutality and arrogance.

13
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,200
'Forty years of socialism
on the former GDR's territory

14
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,880
had caused more damage
than the Second World War,'

15
00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:25,920
he once remarked.

16
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,080
This from a man
who only judges the world

17
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,200
in terms of profit and productivity,
and for whom human lives don't count.

18
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:38,640
The Treuhand's actions have caused
more harm to people than just job loss.

19
00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,440
Not only has it materially harmed
millions of the unemployed,

20
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,080
it has impoverished
their hearts and minds."

21
00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,160
If the Treuhand gets its way…

22
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,320
"For most of the humiliated
and insulted people

23
00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,960
this development represents
the destruction of their way of life.

24
00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,040
They are to be confined to the suburbs,

25
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,480
which are designed
to isolate people from one another."

26
00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,440
"At the same time, sexist behavior
against women erupts openly.

27
00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,360
Women are the first to be fired
when former GDR firms are shut down.

28
00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:19,920
Daycare facilities disappear.

29
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,440
And women are losing their right to choose
how many, if any, children to have.

30
00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,920
For us in West Germany,
this is nothing new.

31
00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,600
We view our attack against
one architect of this new greater Germany

32
00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,040
as an attack that targets the source
of this reactionary development."

33
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,280
Why do I feel so lousy?

34
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,000
Why do I feel so lousy?

35
00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,880
Why do I feel so lousy?

36
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,560
Why do I feel so lousy?

37
00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:00,720
So lousy

38
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,400
So lousy

39
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,320
Why do we feel so lousy?

40
00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,120
Why do we feel so lousy?

41
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,760
Why do we feel so lousy?

42
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,800
Why do we feel so lousy?

43
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:38,440
So lousy

44
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:40,280
So lousy

45
00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:42,280
So lousy

46
00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:44,320
So lousy

47
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,800
"Those who do not fight
die little by little.

48
00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,800
Freedom can only be gained
through the struggle for liberation.

49
00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:56,840
Red Army Faction, 

50
00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,080
Ulrich Wessel squad."

51
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,600
In my opinion, this confession
is the best the RAF has ever written.

52
00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:11,280
It has everything.

53
00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:17,960
GERMANY

54
00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,320
{\an8}A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES

55
00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,000
The German Reich…

56
00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,680
Nobody has any intention
of building a wall.

57
00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,400
West and East Germany - a divided nation.

58
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:39,320
Unity and justice and freedom...

59
00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:40,480
Red Army Faction

60
00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,280
Insane attacks by barbaric terrorists

61
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,600
{\an8}Fatherland

62
00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,280
Risen from ruins

63
00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:51,720
Tear down this wall!

64
00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,480
Our fatherland, reunited.

65
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:02,760
{\an8}Flourish, German fatherland

66
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,680
CAPITALIST

67
00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,320
Dr. Detlev Rohwedder, son of a bookseller,

68
00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,680
studied law and economics.

69
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:23,920
In 1979, he became a member
of the Board of Hoesch AG in Dortmund,

70
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,560
of which he has been chairman since 1980.

71
00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,160
Today, Mr. Rohwedder,
you have a reputation

72
00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,920
as a tough and determined manager.

73
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000
Did your profession
change you as a person?

74
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,320
I never doubted it was the RAF.

75
00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,920
That they hold
the political responsibility

76
00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,040
and are guilty
of committing the murder.

77
00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:49,360
That was clear to me.

78
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:54,440
{\an8}The head of the Berlin Treuhand has
reportedly been murdered by terrorists.\

79
00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,320
The Red Army Faction
claims responsibility.

80
00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:13,280
This is one of the usual letters...

81
00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:19,520
the Red Army Faction
issues after its attacks.

82
00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,760
We, at the Federal Criminal Police Office,

83
00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,480
had to analyze its authenticity.

84
00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:30,080
For this, we had several options.

85
00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,600
The RAF had its own printing press.

86
00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,560
They published letters with the red star,
the submachine gun, and "RAF"

87
00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:41,960
{\an8}using so-called gravure printing.

88
00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,360
Once our forensics team
was able to compare these prints

89
00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:46,800
under an electron microscope,

90
00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,000
we could confirm they came
from the same printing plate.

91
00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:50,760
Then we knew it was an RAF original.

92
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,200
What's in this letter of confession?

93
00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,240
{\an8}It's a brief self-incriminating message

94
00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,120
{\an8}written in typical
RAF political gibberish.

95
00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,560
"In the struggle
against the reactionary plans

96
00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,120
of Greater Germany and Western Europe

97
00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,040
to suppress and exploit the people here."

98
00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:11,320
And so on and so forth.

99
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,520
In a five-page letter,
Rohwedder is accused

100
00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,920
of being a capitalist strategist
and brutal company restructurer.

101
00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,000
It is a pamphlet full of quirky,
pseudo-revolutionary buzzwords.

102
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,600
Meanwhile, the criminal virility
of these people has grown.

103
00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,200
They hardly leave
any usable traces or clues.

104
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,960
The Red Army Faction was no Red Army.

105
00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:37,080
It was…

106
00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,640
If you look at its entire
twenty-eight years of existence,

107
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,360
it was, at best, a faction

108
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,040
of a relatively small group of people.

109
00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,120
There are people who distinguish
between several RAF generations.

110
00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,800
Essentially, there was
a constant influx of newcomers

111
00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:02,720
being assimilated into the RAF.

112
00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,720
They lived like fish in water.

113
00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:08,360
They were urban guerrillas.

114
00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:10,720
They lived underground.

115
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:17,120
But this group was daring enough to attack

116
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,160
West Germany's political class...

117
00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:21,640
and business elite

118
00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,480
and the country's leading figures.

119
00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,960
This daring was unprecedented
on a historical scale.

120
00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,720
Political bombing in West Germany.

121
00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,320
A new form of political confrontation

122
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,120
has frightened millions
of Germans in recent weeks.

123
00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,200
The record of terrorism
could hardly look more frightening.

124
00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:50,840
The Federal Prosecutor General Buback

125
00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,040
was shot dead in Karlsruhe
in the middle of the street.

126
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,240
Jürgen Pronto, a foremost German banker,

127
00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,200
died as the result
of an assassination attempt.

128
00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,040
In the Schleyer abduction case,

129
00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,280
increasing evidence suggests that
the President of the Employers Association

130
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,240
{\an8}was murdered by terrorists.

131
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:06,640
We warned them.

132
00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,760
We predicted who would be the next victim.

133
00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,080
But at the same time, 

134
00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:21,240
I saw that Germany's operational
security forces were unable to counter

135
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:28,000
these predictable attacks by the RAF.

136
00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:35,000
RED ARMY FACTION, 2ND GENERATION
 LUTZ TAUFER

137
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,560
Rohwedder has always been
one of those "desk murders"

138
00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,400
who would routinely stop at nothing

139
00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,320
when it came to planning
misery and desperation

140
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,360
for millions of people,
in the interest of power and profit.

141
00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,080
In the '80s, Rohwedder
made a name for himself

142
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:51,840
as a brutal corporate reconstructionist.

143
00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:53,880
Stop talking about "our" losses!

144
00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,080
Mr. Rohwedder, do you think
the workforce likes you?

145
00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,080
No, I don't think so.

146
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:08,000
I also don't think this
is what the head of a company

147
00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,840
should strive towards or expect.

148
00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,920
There needs to be a specific…
how can I put it…

149
00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:22,000
not the idea of an enemy,
but a person who is clearly responsible

150
00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:27,320
upon whom frustration,
existential worries,

151
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,200
disappointed expectations, low wages, 

152
00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,440
fear of unemployment and the like

153
00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:35,960
can be unloaded.

154
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,440
He eliminates jobs

155
00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,680
without creating new opportunities for us!

156
00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,040
This is a scandal in a city

157
00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,640
which already has
an unemployment rate of 18% and rising!

158
00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:55,200
Within just a few years,

159
00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,120
he fired over two-thirds
of the Hoesch workforce

160
00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,080
and led the bankrupt group
back to new profits.

161
00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,120
For this, he was awarded
Manager of the Year in 1983.

162
00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,080
His appointment as the governor
of Bonn in East Berlin

163
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,320
was the crowning achievement of his career.

164
00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:15,840
Has your experience at Dortmund
prepared you for Berlin?

165
00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:17,280
Absolutely, yes. 

166
00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,720
I believe this experience
is why I was offered the job

167
00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,640
and why my abilities are trusted,

168
00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:28,360
because there will be a lot of conflict
to deal with in the new federal states.

169
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,520
And I believe you'll need
someone who's not afraid

170
00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,480
to stand before the workers
and speak to them.

171
00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:37,680
Let me repeat this to you:

172
00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,800
We face a situation
that has dramatically worsened.

173
00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,160
Gentlemen, I am not the kind of conductor

174
00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,800
who doesn't care
which direction the train is going.

175
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:53,920
Is it possible,

176
00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:57,800
that it's easier for you to let people go

177
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:02,400
because as chairman,
you don't know the workers personally?

178
00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:04,640
Yes, certainly.

179
00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,720
If you knew each of them personally, 

180
00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,920
you'd be absorbed
in each individual's fate.

181
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,040
This would make decisions more difficult.

182
00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:20,400
But when a company's existence
is at stake, certain things must be done.

183
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:31,320
In the Rohwedder case,
I believe it is close to 100% certain

184
00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:37,760
that the so-called third RAF generation
was involved and responsible.

185
00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:41,520
The murderers of Treuhand manager
Detlev Rohwedder

186
00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:43,200
vanished into thin air.

187
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,320
No useful evidence was found
at the crime scene in Düsseldorf.

188
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:48,960
Investigations have stalled.

189
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,680
Minister of Justice Kinkel
returned from his holiday in Switzerland.

190
00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,720
His statement on the day
after the murder was like an oath.

191
00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:01,600
We estimate the core group
has about 15 members.

192
00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:07,280
But frankly, we don't know
who these people are.

193
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,720
That's simply due
to the small size of the group,

194
00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,680
and unlike in the past,
they did not leave any clues.

195
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:16,600
It's true.

196
00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:20,040
Since Hessian Finance Minister Karry
was shot dead ten years ago,

197
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,240
and MTU Manager Zimmermann
near Munich four years later,

198
00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:24,840
there have been no additional clues.

199
00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,840
The 1986 case
of Siemens CEO Beckurts remains open.

200
00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,880
Likewise, no evidence was found
after a similar attack

201
00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:33,720
on Secretary of State Hans Neusel.

202
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:37,720
As always, the RAF claimed responsibility,
but left no incriminating evidence.

203
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,120
The RAF's predictability,
which I consider to be a key tenet,

204
00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:54,760
also applies to their behavior
towards the authorities.

205
00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:57,800
There was never a case 

206
00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,600
where the RAF provided
intel to the authorities.

207
00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:07,920
Rohwedder…

208
00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,280
Let me put it this way...

209
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,680
capitalism was to blame.

210
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,800
But you can't shoot capitalism. Otherwise,
someone would have done it a long time ago.

211
00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,280
I am Lutz Taufer.
Together with five other people,

212
00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,520
I attacked the German embassy
in Stockholm and we killed two hostages.

213
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,400
Two of our people also died.

214
00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:33,520
I spent 20 years in prison, 

215
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,480
mostly in different forms
of solitary confinement.

216
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,560
The "third generation…"

217
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,720
I'm not quite sure who they were.

218
00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,280
I did not have contact with these people.

219
00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:56,720
Perhaps, I've met one of them since
then without knowing who they were.

220
00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,240
Of course, the RAF was communist, 

221
00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,080
socialist, leftist in some form.

222
00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,840
We hoped to fight the global system 

223
00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:11,920
which gave rise
to both fascism and colonialism.

224
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,960
We wanted to fight, overcome,
and smash the existing system,

225
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,680
so that a different system,

226
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,480
a more humane society,
could take its place.

227
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,720
I was part of the first
post-war generation

228
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:30,440
in a country that had started
two world wars.

229
00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,080
I grew up in a culture 

230
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,960
where fascism hadn't yet been rejected.

231
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,120
One of my teachers came to class
with a portable record player.

232
00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,480
He made us listen
to recordings of Hitler's speeches.

233
00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,800
This German people
have grown strong again,

234
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,000
strong in spirit, strong in will…

235
00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,240
When I was 16 or 17 years old,

236
00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:04,440
I learned that six million Jews
had been killed during World War II.

237
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,480
Now, I know my father was in the SS.

238
00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:12,280
His only reaction was,
"Who told you this nonsense?"

239
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,120
This is where I got my motivation

240
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,400
to escape such narrow-mindedness.

241
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,960
Around the same time,
the Vietnam War was going on.

242
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,680
We took to the streets to demonstrate

243
00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:34,480
for peace in Vietnam.

244
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,480
People should have applauded us.

245
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,160
But they spat on us. 

246
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:43,280
They…

247
00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,320
Exterminate them, I say!

248
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:49,640
That would be best...

249
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,280
Eradicate them!

250
00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:53,880
Shoot them.

251
00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,720
They live off our hard-earned tax money.

252
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,360
Away with them.
Up against the wall and shoot them!

253
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,520
People shouted at us,
"They forgot to gas you!"

254
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,360
That was the situation back then.

255
00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,640
We were in a country
where we couldn't breathe.

256
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:10,920
Nobody wanted us. 

257
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,520
We had no chance of starting
a normal life in this environment.

258
00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:26,440
We did everything we could
to overpower the system.

259
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:29,760
On April 24, 1975, 

260
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,600
six terrorists occupied
the German Embassy in Stockholm.

261
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,480
They demanded
the release of RAF prisoners.

262
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,920
After the West German government
rejected their demands,

263
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,520
they shot two embassy personnel
and detonated their bombs.

264
00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:51,080
Put it on the air! 

265
00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,560
We're at the German Embassy
and just heard a massive explosion.

266
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,840
Our goal was to free...
sixteen prisoners, I think.

267
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,160
And in the end, there were four dead...

268
00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:08,040
and four people with life sentences.

269
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:09,880
Help!

270
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:14,640
Help!

271
00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:21,160
There had never been
such a violent attack before.

272
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,720
All... our actions...

273
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:31,200
were also meant to inspire others...

274
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,960
who would see us as an example
and join the armed struggle.

275
00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:43,960
We had many discussions back then.

276
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,600
Violence: yes or no? 

277
00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,120
Is it a legitimate means or isn't it?

278
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,080
I always felt,

279
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,200
if I wanted to really fight the system, 

280
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,520
I needed to do so with full conviction.

281
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:02,720
I believe, the members of the RAF
were willing to sacrifice everything,

282
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,600
even their own lives. 

283
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:05,760
And I thought…

284
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,880
I thought this was special.

285
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,400
So first, I burned all my documents

286
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,400
in order to become a member of the RAF.

287
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,920
Right after that
I was given a gun.

288
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:27,000
Silke Maier-Witt, 27 years of age,
is considered very dangerous.

289
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,760
She's accused of participating
in several serious crimes.

290
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,600
{\an8}Silke Maier-Witt is 1.71 meters tall
with a slender build.

291
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,240
{\an8}She has blue eyes and dark blonde hair.

292
00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,920
{\an8}Her distinct feature
is several missing teeth.

293
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,840
I was responsible for hiring cars. 

294
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,360
I learned how to forge passports...

295
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:49,080
things like that.

296
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,240
POLICE

297
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,920
WANTED TERRORISTS

298
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,400
Sixteen RAF members are on the run,
but the police know who they are.

299
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:00,880
A manhunt is ongoing.

300
00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,720
Report any useful information,
 to your nearest police station.

301
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,680
By 1980…

302
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,120
{\an8}the RAF was basically...

303
00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,640
on its knees due to an incident.

304
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:27,320
A coincidence had led
to a wave of arrests in Frankfurt.

305
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:33,880
The entire RAF leadership was apprehended.

306
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,280
It was a major achievement,
especially the capture of Christian Klar.

307
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,200
Without a doubt,
he was the RAF's main assassin.

308
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,160
He had ruthlessly killed several people.

309
00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,360
We were convinced,
"Now we've got them. That's it."

310
00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,160
With all those arrests,
the RAF was effectively ended.

311
00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,040
We were literally…

312
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:06,080
"headless."

313
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:07,680
Then…

314
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:13,280
one of our group
made contact with the Stasi.

315
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,120
And they told us…

316
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,400
we were going to the GDR.

317
00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,720
My next question was,
"What do I know about the GDR?"

318
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:25,080
Nothing, really.

319
00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,120
I was disappointed at first,

320
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:34,280
because I thought, "What revolutionary
action could I do in the GDR?"

321
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,280
ENTRY FOR CITIZENS OF WEST GERMANY
AND OTHER COUNTRIES LONG-TERM STAY

322
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,520
We then received our GDR ID cards

323
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,000
and became official GDR citizens.

324
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,480
{\an8}Already, this was a brash move,

325
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:04,080
{\an8}but I had to hand it to the Stasi,

326
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,840
which handled it very professionally.

327
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,920
Their resumes were rewritten,

328
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,920
they were provided with accommodations

329
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,000
and suitable jobs.

330
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,840
Everything was done for them...

331
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:26,600
so that they could settle
in their new socialist homeland.

332
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,440
But at the same time,
their every step was watched...

333
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:35,000
with the greatest suspicion.

334
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:43,280
It was 24/7 surveillance. 

335
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,320
Someone used to drop by regularly.

336
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:47,400
And I thought,

337
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:52,960
"I'm really at the mercy
of this organization."

338
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:03,200
But what was my alternative?
Go to prison? For the same length of time?

339
00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:18,120
{\an8}The RAF developed a capability

340
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:23,560
{\an8}rarely seen in terrorist organizations.

341
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:30,480
They managed to turn
every defeat into a victory.

342
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,560
Whenever the state succeeded
in weakening the RAF,

343
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:41,040
the RAF always managed
to recruit new members.

344
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,280
The last, third, generation of the RAF

345
00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,640
was characterized...

346
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:56,000
by unusual criminal energy

347
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,040
and discipline.

348
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,920
What's also striking is that, 

349
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,040
to this very day, their biggest crimes

350
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:10,000
are nowhere near being solved...

351
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:16,240
in terms of finding the perpetrators...

352
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:18,880
and understanding their actions.

353
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:25,960
{\an8}FEDERAL CRIMINAL POLICE OFFICE
UNDERCOVER AGENT

354
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:34,680
For all the attacks launched since 1983,

355
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,960
many hold the so-called
"third generation" of the RAF responsible.

356
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,160
I just don't believe this.

357
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,080
I don't think
this third generation ever existed.

358
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:52,120
I have worked for the Federal Criminal
Police Office for 35 years...

359
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,520
as a police investigator.

360
00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,160
I just don't believe the RAF…

361
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,640
from 1987 onwards,

362
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:05,960
and probably earlier,

363
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,080
could execute such precise attacks,
such as the ones on Rohwedder

364
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,640
and also Herrhausen.

365
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,280
FRANKFURT
NOVEMBER 30, 1989

366
00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:22,240
16 MONTHS
 UNTIL THE MURDER

367
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:23,240
Good evening.

368
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:24,880
{\an8}The head of Deutsche Bank

369
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,080
{\an8}Alfred Herrhausen was murdered
today by terrorists.

370
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,080
The attack has shaken German society,

371
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,080
because Alfred Herrhausen
ruled a business empire.

372
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,040
The terror group known as the Red
Army Faction may be behind the murder.

373
00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:54,080
Investigators call this "high-tech terror"

374
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,040
and blame what may be
a third RAF generation.

375
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,880
Here you see our colleagues on site.

376
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,040
This officer is part
of the Crime Scene Unit.

377
00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:09,720
You can clearly see the force
with which the Red Army Faction's bomb

378
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:14,160
burst into Herrhausen's armored vehicle.

379
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,160
They used a self-made hollow charge,

380
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,320
set off by a photo sensor.

381
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,840
The sensor itself had
to be primed by someone nearby.

382
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,160
First, the escort vehicle went past,
then the sensor was primed,

383
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,440
and then the blast ripped
into the right rear door.

384
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:32,800
There are only a few people in Germany, 

385
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,160
mostly military or explosives experts,
who could build something like this.

386
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,840
It gave us a lot to think about.

387
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,840
Who could have pulled this off?

388
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,560
I was there myself
at the Herrhausen crime scene.

389
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,520
I live nearby.

390
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,120
I heard this huge bang,

391
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,040
so I drove over there
and saw what had happened.

392
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:10,120
It was a completely new way
of carrying out an assassination.

393
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:14,880
All prior attacks had been rather crude.

394
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,560
Drive-by shootings
on motorcycles and things like that.

395
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,960
These were not typical for the RAF.

396
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,120
Herrhausen was assassinated
with an elaborate trap

397
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:34,080
and Rohwedder was assassinated
with an exceptional sniper shot.

398
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,800
These highly precise operations…

399
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:45,040
in my view, were military-style.

400
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:04,600
The Rohwedder case…

401
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,960
{\an8}I have great doubts
about who was behind that.

402
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:11,960
It was a precise shot from about 60 meters

403
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,040
in difficult lighting conditions -
the window would have refracted the light.

404
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:19,560
These are conditions
only a professional can master.

405
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,800
Karsten Rohwedder's study,
where he was shot dead.

406
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:41,800
Using a laser beam,

407
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,720
the Federal Police
are tracing the ballistic curve

408
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,560
and the exact location
from where the shots were fired.

409
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,600
-Move towards the right.
-The right.

410
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:53,480
Stop, this should be it.

411
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:54,520
A little higher.

412
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,520
-Lower. Now?
-A little higher and to the right.

413
00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,560
A little higher and to the right. Stop!

414
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:01,280
-Yes.
-This is exactly the position.

415
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:02,440
-Yes.
-Exactly.

416
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,080
{\an8}We're directing a laser
through the window to trace the bullets

417
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:11,440
{\an8}and to determine the exact location
of the gunman in this garden.

418
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,680
We plan to do a second procedure
to reconstruct the scene

419
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,320
with a G1 rifle like the one used.

420
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,120
We never found the rifle.

421
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:24,800
But we found the casings,

422
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:31,800
which was essential for determining
what kind of weapon was used.

423
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,680
A microscopic analysis
of the bullets 

424
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,320
showed that the same rifle
was used a few weeks earlier

425
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,320
to attack the US embassy in Bonn.

426
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,160
7 WEEKS 

427
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,080
UNTIL THE MURDER

428
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,960
{\an8}Our news office in Bonn reports
that a terrorist attack was made

429
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,080
{\an8}against the US Embassy
in Bonn this evening.

430
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:57,280
The big building was apparently fired on
with machine guns from across the Rhine.

431
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,040
More than 200 shots were fired,

432
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,440
but not a single
potential victim was in sight.

433
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:07,960
What an amateurish attack!

434
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,680
They shot at the US Embassy
from across the river.

435
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,920
We thought this
was too amateurish for RAF standards.

436
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,280
And just a few weeks later
the same rifle is used to kill Rohwedder?

437
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,080
We had nothing, absolutely nothing.

438
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,040
It is striking 

439
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:38,760
that after each precise attack,
a very amateurish one would follow.

440
00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,280
In my opinion, this only serves to obscure

441
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,760
the actual motives and perpetrators.

442
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,840
Let's assume
the generation theory is true.

443
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,520
How can it be
that no member of the third generation

444
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,800
has ever surfaced
or been identified by the authorities?

445
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:58,880
How is it that this generation 

446
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,600
{\an8}virtually left no traces at all,

447
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,880
{\an8}meaning there's no longer
any kind of objective proof?

448
00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:08,360
Indeed…

449
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,320
This is a point one can make.

450
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:19,560
But I, who always tried to think
in RAF categories,

451
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:24,200
I am certain that
if the RAF says it was them,

452
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,040
then it was them!

453
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,320
In preparation for our talk,

454
00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,960
I re-read the old confession letters.

455
00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:42,560
1985, '86, '87.

456
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,680
The attacks during that time
and the letters...

457
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,320
were all coherent.

458
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,000
However, the Rohwedder confession

459
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,120
is very different from the previous ones.

460
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,680
All of us who are fighting
to live our lives with dignity

461
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:06,560
in a world free of rulers.

462
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,440
We should roll up our sleeves
and become a common force.

463
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:12,520
The revolutionary movement

464
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,240
must develop a real
and concrete human perspective.

465
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,080
The seed of a new society must grow,

466
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,320
a society where people
start living together without rulers

467
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:24,840
in a self-determined manner.

468
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,120
We are prepared to work with anyone

469
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,520
who feels that this capitalist
reality is suffocating them.

470
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,560
"The revolutionary movement must become
an actual and prominent political force."

471
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,240
This means the RAF…

472
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,160
wanted to show people a way out.

473
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,680
Certainly, this is a well-thought-out
political strategy,

474
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,320
but it is impossible to make a reality.

475
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,160
Not even with violence.

476
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,720
The people in the GDR
wanted something completely different.

477
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:05,440
MARCH 14, 1990

478
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,520
{\an8}HELMUT KOHL IS COMING TO LEIPZIG

479
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,480
{\an8}OPERA HOUSE SQUARE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 5:00 P.M.

480
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:18,040
Helmut!

481
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,040
What already bothered me back then

482
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:27,120
was the idea that everything
that came from the West was good.

483
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:31,280
That no one scrutinized this,

484
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,400
that no one said, 

485
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,120
"Now this is capitalism,

486
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,680
and it isn't good."

487
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:42,040
Helmut!

488
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:47,400
{\an8}On March 14, 1883,

489
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:49,720
{\an8}Karl Marx died.

490
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,320
{\an8}On March 14, 1990,

491
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,760
{\an8}we lay his philosophy to rest.

492
00:33:57,240 --> 00:33:59,520
I want to tell
our fellow Germans in the GDR,

493
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,720
no one will be worse off,
and many will be better off.

494
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:11,560
It was clear to me
that nothing in the GDR would survive.

495
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,160
So the inevitable happened.

496
00:34:14,240 --> 00:34:16,000
The hardware chains opened. 

497
00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:21,200
And when the first Coke cans
littered the streets,

498
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,640
it was clear that all
this stuff had arrived.

499
00:34:23,720 --> 00:34:25,200
I found it all disgusting.

500
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:27,400
And in the supermarket, I thought,

501
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,360
"My God! This can't be real!

502
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,920
Who needs 50, 60 different types
of yogurt?"

503
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,480
Before, in the GDR, we had one
with strawberry flavor and one without.

504
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:37,840
That sufficed, too!

505
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:45,360
The free-market system
pretends to offer people a chance

506
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,400
to secure a spot in the wealthy country
called Greater Germany,

507
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,320
and to revel
in the euphoria of consumption.

508
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:56,760
When in reality, the system is designed

509
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,040
to make people ignorant and apathetic.

510
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:03,880
If security exists at all,
it only exists for those who are prepared 

511
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,280
to unconditionally sell themselves
to a greater degree than others.

512
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,800
For most of the humiliated
and insulted people,

513
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:14,440
this development represents
the destruction of their way of life.

514
00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:18,920
It was and is state policy,

515
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,520
to beat the propaganda drum
of "Germany, our one and only fatherland,"

516
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:25,320
which has made nationalism
socially acceptable again,

517
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,880
especially in the former GDR.

518
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:31,120
This vitriolic mantra
of "Now we are somebody again!

519
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,600
Finally, we are real Germans!"

520
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:37,160
Germany!

521
00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:41,680
Since the dissolution of the GDR,
openly racist attacks against refugees

522
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,920
and foreign residents have flared up.

523
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,000
Out! Out! Foreigners out!

524
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,640
Fascist groups have gained in strength,

525
00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:54,240
resulting in almost daily attacks
against hostels housing foreigners.

526
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,880
Germany above all else

527
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:03,080
Above the whole wide world

528
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:06,720
I'm impressed. My hat's off.

529
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,160
What a comprehensive analysis.

530
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:12,560
Not badly formulated either.

531
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,480
But it doesn't fit in
with the assassination, does it?

532
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,640
"The creation of revolutionary forces…"

533
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:28,560
By killing Rohwedder,
this is not a goal you could…

534
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,400
have accomplished.

535
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,440
This doesn't make any sense.

536
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:39,200
Why Rohwedder?

537
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:44,360
Why him, given all the ideology involved?

538
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:50,040
He wasn't really a hardliner or anything.

539
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,320
Nobody can answer this question.

540
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:59,560
Unless, there is a different motivation
behind all this.

541
00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:13,800
If this was done
by the Stasi or someone else…

542
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,800
as a copycat action,
well, I'd be impressed.

543
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:24,800
The RAF was an ideal scapegoat.

544
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,760
The RAF was always blamed
whenever an attack took place.

545
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:35,000
Whenever something happened
back then, the word was: RAF.

546
00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,160
But one must try to embark

547
00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:44,880
on this endless adventure of speculation:

548
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:46,680
who benefits?