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After 30 years, RAF terrorist Daniela Klette was caught. A spectacular police coup. And “file number XY”.
When the terror was over, the RAF men ran out of money. In 1998, the “Red Army Faction” officially dissolved – but many former members were still on the run, in hiding, traveling somewhere with false passports.
The ex-terrorists became ordinary criminals, robbed money transporters, committed all kinds of robberies and thefts. One of the terrorists was Daniela Klette. She hid for 30 years – until she was caught in Berlin.
Berlin, of all places
Sebastianstrasse 73, a typical Berlin district – chic new buildings on one side, dreary concrete blocks on the other. Latte macchiato and canned beer, just a few meters apart. Ammunition was found near Klette – and an Italian passport. Not really, of course.
Berlin, of all places. Terrorism began here in 1970 under the name “RAF”. In Dahlem, the Vietnam activist and arsonist Andreas Baader fled from the police with his accomplices – the first person was injured. “Attempted murder” was later written on the first wanted posters that characterized the 1970s in Germany and testified to the horror and horror of the RAF.
Ulrike Meinhof was there, followed later by Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe. Names that are inextricably linked to the “RAF” blood trail. Assassination attempts on industrialists and bankers – a total of 54 people died, including victims and perpetrators. There were almost 250 injuries and millions of dollars in damage.
Death penalty also became an issue
Terror changed society, polarized it, and the constitutional state reached its limits. There were even calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty. With Baader, Ensslin and Raspe, the top of the first “RAF” generation killed themselves in the Stammheim prison in Stuttgart – a next generation followed, the terror continued.
Daniela Klette, who has now been arrested, belonged to the third generation – presumably involved in the blowing up of a prison in Weiterstadt – the last major attack by the “RAF”. That was 1993, 31 years ago. There were no deaths, the terrorists even posted a warning on their VW bus: “Prison blowing up soon. Run away immediately.”
The “RAF” changed Germany and wounded it forever. The search pressure remained correspondingly high. A few days ago, the search program “File number XY… Unsolved” reported on the fugitive “RAF” terrorists – over 250 tips were received. One of them probably led to the arrest of Daniela Klette.
The hunt isn’t over yet
Every arrest helps Germany heal its wounds a little bit and put an end to a decade of brutal violence and terror in the middle of society. The “RAF” could hardly be surpassed in terms of brutality; nothing was sacred anymore. The “RAF” people did not even shy away from kidnapping and killing members of their own family – as was the case with Dresdner Bank boss Jürgen Ponto, who died in July 1977, murdered by the “RAF”.
The hunt is not over yet; there are more RAF men on the run. Still hunted, still despised. And they have known since Daniela Klette’s arrest: they are not safe, they are not forgotten. The search is ongoing.