The Anti-Imperialist Cell (, ''AIZ'') was a German

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

militant organization responsible for several

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attacks from 1992 to 1995. The AIZ began its existence on 22 May 1992, branding itself as the successor to the inactive

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" 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, considered a terrorist organisat ...

. They published their first

communiqué A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

in 1994, with the stated mission to attack "elites" of reunified Germany and their representatives at their jobs or residences. The organization committed nine

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

and

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

attacks against German state and political

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

targets, ultimately resulting in no deaths. On 25 February 1996, Bernhard Falk and Michael Steinau were arrested for involvement in the activities of the AIZ, and on 1 September 1999, were convicted by the Higher Regional Court of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

for four counts of

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

, receiving sentences of 9 and 13 years imprisonment, respectively. Falk and Steinau are the only known members of the AIZ, which investigators assumed had a larger membership, and are presumed to be the only members as attacks by the organization ended immediately after their arrest.

List of attacks by the Anti-Imperialist Cell

*21 November 1992 - Arson attack on the

law faculty A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

of the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. *18 August 1993 - Arson attack on the home of a GSG-9 member in

Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...

. *17 November 1993 - Firearms attack on the headquarters of the

employers' association An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutua ...

Gesamtmetall in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. *5 July 1994 - Explosive bomb attack on the office of the CDU in Düsseldorf. *24/26 September 1994 - Attempted bomb attack on the building of the regional office of the Free Democratic Party in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. *22 January 1995 - Explosive attack against the home of CDU politician Volkmar Köhler, the former

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

state secretary for the BMZ, in

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

. *23 April 1995 - Explosive attack on the home of the CDU politician Joseph-Theodor Blank, the Bundestag MP for

Mettmann Mettmann () is a town in the northern part of the Bergisches Land, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the Mettmann (district), district of Mettmann, Germany's most densely populated rural district. The town lies ...

I, in

Erkrath Erkrath () is a town in the Mettmann (district), district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Erkrath is situated on the river Düssel, directly east of Düsseldorf and west of Wuppertal, close to the famous Neandertal. It ...

. *17 September 1995 - Explosive bomb attack on the residential building of the CDU politician

Paul Breuer Paul Breuer (born 25 June 1950) is a German politician. He represents the CDU. Breuer served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, ...

, Bundestag MP for

Siegen-Wittgenstein Siegen-Wittgenstein is a Kreis (district) in the southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Olpe (district), Olpe, Hochsauerlandkreis, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Lahn-Dill, Westerwaldkreis, and Altenkirche ...

, in

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

. *23 December 1995 - Explosive bomb attack on the

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in Düsseldorf.

Sources

*Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labo
Germany: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000
U.S. State Department. 23 February 2001. Anti-imperialist organizations Left-wing militant groups in Germany Left-wing politics in Germany Organizations with year of disestablishment missing Organizations with year of establishment missing Defunct political organizations in Germany Terrorism in Germany Communist organisations in Germany Communist terrorism Far-left politics in Germany Terrorist incidents in Germany in the 1990s Defunct communist militant groups Terrorist incidents in Germany in 1992 Terrorist incidents in Germany in 1995 {{Terrorism-stub

List of attacks by the Anti-Imperialist Cell

See also

Sources