The 2 June Movement (German: Bewegung 2. Juni) was a West German anarchist militant group based in West Berlin. Active from January 1972 to 1980, the anarchist group was one of the few militant groups at the time in Germany. Although the 2 June Movement did not share the same ideology as the Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang), these organizations were allies. The 2 June Movement did not establish as much influence in Germany as their Marxist counterparts, and is best known for kidnapping West Berlin mayoral candidate Peter Lorenz.[1]
Rising from the ashes of political group Kommune 1 and militant group Tupamaros West-Berlin, the 2 June Movement was formed in July 1971. During the trial of Thomas Weissbecker, Michael Baumann, and Georg von Rauch for an assault on Horst Rieck[de], Baumann and Weissbecker were ordered to be released on bail. When the release was announced, Rauch, who was facing a probable ten-year sentence for other charges, pretended to be Weissbecker, and left the courtroom with Baumann. The two immediately went underground. Once Weissbecker revealed his identity, he was released from custody. Following their escape, the 2 June Movement was formed.[2]
In contrast to the Red Army Faction (RAF), the 2 June Movement was anarchist rather than Marxist. The organization derived its name from the date that German university student Benno Ohnesorg was shot by West Berlin Police officer Karl-Heinz Kurras[3] while participating in a protest against the Shah of IranMohammed Reza Pahlavi's state visit to Germany, as the demonstrators were attacked by the police. His death ignited the left-wing movement in West Germany, influencing politicians and political activists, and leading to the establishment of violent non-state actors. Although the organization never became as notorious as the RAF, the 2 June Movement was the most prominent in the first phase of German leftist post-World War II militarism.[1]
Fritz Teufel pictured (left)
Fritz Teufel
Political activist Fritz Teufel became one of the leaders of the 2 June Movement.[4] Originally taking part in Kommune 1, his comical take on revolutionary activity had him dubbed "fun guerilla" by himself and the general public. In 1967, Teufel became a quasi-icon in West Germany after being arrested. Charged with treason and the attempted assassination of United States Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Teufel was eventually acquitted. His humorous image was constructed following his arrest, as he and his associates were brought into questioning with a flour-pudding-yogurt concoction that was to be used as a "bomb". On 2 June 1967, Teufel was arrested again, this time falsely accused of throwing a rock at police and provoking the riot at which Benno Ohnesorg was killed. This time, he served six months in jail.[5]
In 1975, Teufel was arrested and charged with kidnapping Peter Lorenz, spending five years in pre-trial detention. When he came to trial, he was able to prove he was working in a toilet seat factory at the time, yet was still convicted of various charges and given a sentence of five years, which he had already served.[6]
Although the 2 June Movement never developed a clear ideology or purpose for its existence, Teufel's political activism was rooted in his hatred for his parents' generation. Just like many students and activists of his age, Teufel was angered by the Nazi regime of the previous generation, and fought to eliminate that image from Germany. Much of the resentment was directed towards those who had played a role in the Nazi regime, especially those who had never taken any responsibility for their actions.[7]
Bombings, kidnappings, and other violent acts
Aside from the kidnapping of Peter Lorenz, the group is known for many other attacks. The 2 June Movement predominantly used firearms when carrying out their attacks, but also used explosive devices.[8]
On 4 December 1971 during a massive search throughout the city of West Berlin following the discovery of a Red Army Faction safe house, three members of the 2 June Movement got into a shootout with a plainclothes policeman. George von Rauch was killed, while Michael Baumann and another guerrilla managed to escape.[2] Before this confrontation they had carried out an assault on the Technical University of Berlin a month prior.[9]
On 2 February 1972, the 2 June Movement declared responsibility for a bombing at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin. The attack, which killed the boat's engineer, was later found out to be an act of assistance for the Irish Republican Army. During the trial, which took place in February 1974, 2 June Movement and other militants started a riot at the court's exterior.[1]
On 2 March 1972 Thomas Weisbecker was killed in Augsburg, Germany during a shootout with two Munich policeman.[2]
On the fifth anniversary of Benno Ohnesorg's death, a bomb exploded in West Berlin. To this day, no group has taken responsibility for the bombing, although it was inferred that attack was the action of 2 June Movement.[4]
In West Berlin on 27 July 1973, the 2 June Movement stole 200,000 Deutsch Marks from a local bank.[1]
In mid-1974, 2 June Movement member Ulrich Schmücker was shot to death by others in the organization. Although it is not clear what the rationale was for the shooting, Schmücker was believed to be an informant. The opposing argument was that the murder was an accident.[1]
After Red Army Faction member Holger Meins died of starvation in prison, the 2 June Movement attempted a kidnapping of Superior Court Justice Günter von Drenkmann, who was killed in the process.[10][11][12]
Peter Lorenz kidnapping
Arrests and escapes
Throughout the course of the organization's history, several notable arrests resulted in the imprisonment of 2 June Movement members. Associate Till Meyer was taken into custody after a 29 March 1972 shooting in Bielefeld at which no one was wounded. By December, he was convicted of the attempted murder of a policeman, and imprisoned for three years.
On 19 April 1972 four hundred police raid the Georg von Rauch Haus. Evidence related to recent bombings were discovered, but members of the 2 June Movement who had been living there were elsewhere at the time of the raid. Twenty-seven people were taken in for questioning.[2]
Later that June, Bernhard Braun was discovered and arrested for his activity in violent attacks, along with Red Army Faction member Brigitte Mohnhaupt.
In 1973, 2 June Movement member Gabi Kröcher-Tiedemann was arrested after shooting a policeman and sentenced to eight years in prison. She was set free in 1975 as a part of the bargain in the Peter Lorenz kidnapping.[1] Within a few months of each other in late 1973, Inge Viett and Till Meyer escaped from prison.[1]
Kidnapping of Peter Lorenz
Three days before mayoral election in West Berlin in 1975, candidate Peter Lorenz of the Christian Democratic Union party was kidnapped by 2 June Movement members. Lorenz was cornered while on the road, and was thrown into another vehicle after his driver was knocked unconscious from the vehicle collision involving the kidnappers.[1][13] In an effort to free several imprisoned Red Army Faction and 2 June Movement affiliates, the extremists publicized a photo which showed Lorenz with a sign around his neck that read "Peter Lorenz, prisoner of the 2nd June Movement".[1] The photo also contained a message that demanded the release of Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann, Horst Mahler, Ingrid Siepmann, Rolf Heissler, Rolf Pohle, and Verena Becker from prison. Along with the release of these members, 2 June Movement also demanded that a jet be provided to fly the radicals out to Aden located in South Yemen, and 9,000 German marks should be given to the 2 June Movement. The West German government met their demands, releasing all but Horst Mahler, who did not want to be set free.[14] On 5 March 1975 Peter Lorenz was released at midnight, six hours after the West German Government had fulfilled the demands made by his abductors. He was dropped off in Wilmersdorf district, walked to a telephone booth, and called his wife, Marianne, to tell her that their six‐day ordeal was over.[15]
Dissolution
On 2 June 1980, the 2 June Movement declared that they had disbanded and merged with the Red Army Faction in a letter to the German daily newspaper, Frankfurter Rundschau.[4] Anti-imperialism was a common cause that brought the 2 June Movement to join forces with the Red Army Faction. The 2 June movement ended their statement with "Unity in the Anti-Imperialist Armed Struggle" conveying their solidarity with the Red Army Faction.[16]
The Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang, was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998. The RAF described itself as a communist and anti-imperialist urban guerrilla group. It was engaged in armed resistance against what it considered a fascist state. Members of the RAF generally used the Marxist–Leninist term faction when they wrote in English. Early leadership included Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin, and Horst Mahler. The West German government considered the RAF a terrorist organization.
Ulrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author of The Urban Guerilla Concept (1971). The manifesto acknowledges the RAF's "roots in the history of the student movement"; condemns "reformism" as "a brake on the anti-capitalist struggle"; and invokes Mao Zedong to define "armed struggle" as "the highest form of Marxism-Leninism".
Gudrun Ensslin was a German far-left terrorist and founder of the West German far-left militant group Red Army Faction.
Berndt Andreas Baader, was a West German communist and leader of the left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction (RAF) also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group.
Benno Ohnesorg was a West German university student killed by a policeman during a demonstration in West Berlin. His death spurred the growth of the left-wing German student movement.
Heinrich Albertz was a German Protestant theologian, priest and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as Governing Mayor of Berlin from 1966 to 1967.
Brigitte Margret Ida Mohnhaupt is a German convicted former terrorist associated with the second generation of the Red Army Faction (RAF) members. She was also part of the Socialist Patients' Collective (SPK). From 1971 until 1982 she was active within the RAF.
The Außerparlamentarische Opposition, was a political protest movement in West Germany during the latter half of the 1960s and early 1970s, forming a central part of the German student movement. Its membership consisted mostly of young people disillusioned with the grand coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since the coalition controlled 95 percent of the Bundestag, the APO provided a more effective outlet for student dissent. Its most prominent member and unofficial spokesman was Rudi Dutschke.
Members of the Red Army Faction (RAF) can be split up into three generations. The first (founding) generation existed from 1970 onwards. The second generation emerged from 1975 and included people from other groups such as the Socialist Patients' Collective (SPK) and the 2 June Movement. The third generation began in 1982. The group announced its dissolution in 1998.
Ingrid Schubert was a West German militant and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). She participated in the freeing of Andreas Baader from prison in May 1970 as well as several bank robberies before her arrest in October 1970. She was found dead in her cell in 1977.
Thomas Weissbecker, known as Tommy (1949–1972), was a German leftwing militant shot dead by police at the age of 23. He was involved with the Haschrebellen, the Tupamaros West-Berlin, the 2 June Movement and the Red Army Faction. After his death, the Tommy Weisbecker Haus was squatted in Berlin.
Peter Lorenz was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Gabriele Kröcher-Tiedemann (1951–1995) was a German far-left militant, associated with the Movement 2 June (J2M) and the Red Army Faction. She married Norbert Kröcher in 1971 and later divorced him whilst she served a prison sentence. She was freed by the kidnapping of Peter Lorenz in 1975, then participated in the OPEC siege. In 1977, she was arrested in Switzerland after shooting two policemen. She was imprisoned until 1991 and died in 1995.
Michael "Bommi" Baumann was a German author and former militant. After growing up in Berlin, he was radicalised by the police shooting of Benno Ohnesorg and founded the Movement 2 June with his best friend Georg von Rauch. After von Rauch was shot dead by the police and a bomb planted by Baumann killed a builder, Baumann fled abroad. Whilst on the run he wrote the memoir Wie alles anfing and renounced political violence. The book sold 100,000 copies. Baumann was arrested in London in 1981 and following a prison term lived in Berlin.
The Baader Meinhof Complex is a 2008 German drama film directed by Uli Edel. Written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, it stars Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, and Johanna Wokalek. The film is based on the 1985 German best selling non-fiction book of the same name by Stefan Aust. It retells the story of the early years of the West German far-left terrorist organisation the Rote Armee Fraktion from 1967 to 1977.
Verena Becker is a former West German member of the Movement 2 June and later the Red Army Faction.
The Tupamaros West-Berlin (TW) were a small German Marxist organization which carried out a series of bombings and arsons at the end of the 1960s. In 1969 Dieter Kunzelmann, Georg von Rauch, and a few others traveled to Jordan to train at a Fatah camp, forming the Tupamaros on their return to Germany. The group took their name from the Uruguayan Tupamaros. The TW had a core membership of about 15 people.
Fritz Teufel was a prominent figure in the West German political left of the 1960s. One of the founders of Kommune 1, Teufel cultivated a theatrical, humorous public image—encapsulated in his idea of the "Spaßguerilla". In the 1970s he rejected this image and became involved with the violent Movement 2 June. He was jailed several times in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ingrid Siepmann was a German political militant who was a member of the Movement 2 June (M2J) and later the Red Army Faction (RAF). She was freed from prison during the Peter Lorenz kidnapping and is believed to have died fighting against the Israel Defense Forces during the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre.
The Frankfurt department store firebombings on 2 April 1968 in Frankfurt am Main were politically motivated arsons, in which the later co-founders of the left wing extremist Red Army Faction, Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin were involved. Together with Thorwald Proll and Horst Söhnlein they set three fires, in two department stores at night and were sentenced to three years in prison each. No people were injured; the damage in the Kaufhaus M. Schneider was calculated at 282.339 DM and in the Kaufhof, 390.865 DM.
↑ Churchill, Ward (2013). The Red Army Faction, A Documentary History: Volume 2: Dancing with Imperialism. Kersplebedeb. pp.137–139. ISBN978-1-60486-030-6.
Further reading
Blumenau, Bernhard. The United Nations and Terrorism. Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, pp.24–26. ISBN978-1-137-39196-4.
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