Holger Klaus Meins (26 October 1941 – 9 November 1974) was a German

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

student who joined the

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 ...

(RAF) in the early 1970s and died on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

in prison.

As a revolutionary

Meins became an important member of the RAF and was seen as a leading figure. He was very involved in the group's clandestine work, for instance hiring a metal sculptor to design a grenade casing and bomb mould designed which could be placed under a woman's dress, giving the impression that she was

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

, telling the sculptor that it was a prop for a film project. On 1 June 1972, Meins and

Andreas Baader Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was a West German communist and leader of the far-left terrorist organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group. Life Andreas Baader was born in Mu ...

, along with Jan-Carl Raspe, went to check on a storage garage in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

where they were storing explosives. The police had been surveilling the garage after a tip from a local resident. Meins and Baader entered the garage and were immediately surrounded. The police blocked the exit of the garage and fired

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

grenades into the garage via a back window. Baader threw the tear gas back out. The stand-off did not last long after Baader was severely wounded when shot in the hip; Meins surrendered soon after. All three men were arrested. In prison, Meins and the other RAF prisoners launched several

s to protest the conditions of their imprisonment. As the hunger strike entered its seventh week, 32 activists from "anti-torture committees" from across the country occupied the

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

headquarters in Hamburg to protest against prison conditions. The police cleared the office but did not take any personal details. Much later it became clear that around half of the activists later joined the RAF. Including Wolfgang Grams, who was later shot by

GSG 9 , formerly , is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime. In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-H ...

. Meins died by

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, de ...

on hunger strike, on 9 November 1974. Although Meins was 1.83 meters (6'0") tall, he weighed only 39 kg (86 lbs) at the time of his death.

Aftermath

Meins's death sparked many protest actions across Europe, with many turning violent. RAF members grew more opposed to the German state.

Hans-Joachim Klein Hans-Joachim Klein (; 21 December 1947 – 9 November 2022) was a German left-wing militant and a member of the terrorist group Revolutionary Cells. His ''nom de guerre'' was "Angie". In 1975, Klein participated in an attack on OPEC headquart ...

, who acted as chauffeur for

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

in a meeting with

and became a militant, claimed that Meins's death showed him "the impotence of legality", and said that he carried a copy of Meins's autopsy photo as a reminder. After the death of Holger Meins, around 5,000 people marched through the city in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

despite a ban on demonstrations; there was a violent street battle with the police. At Mein's funeral in Hamburg,

Rudi Dutschke Alfred Willi Rudolf Dutschke (; 7 March 1940 – 24 December 1979) was a German sociologist and political activist who, until severely injured by an assassin in 1968, was a leading charismatic figure within the Socialist Students Union (SDS) in ...

, among others. Dutschke promised at the open grave "Holger, the fight continues!" The RAF members who carried out the

West German Embassy siege The West German Embassy siege in Stockholm, Sweden, was a hostage standoff initiated by the Red Army Faction (RAF) on 24 April 1975. Collectively, the attackers referred to themselves as Kommando Holger Meins, after Holger Meins, a RAF member w ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1975 named their group the "Holger Meins Commando" in his honor.

Representation in other media

Jean-Marie Straub Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Carroll (born 1956), English musician and composer * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medic ...

's and Danièle Huillet's movie, ''

Moses und Aron ''Moses und Aron'' (English: ''Moses and Aaron'') is a three-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg with the music to the third act unfinished. The German libretto is by the composer. It is based on selected incidents from the Book of Exodus (chapters 3 ...

'' (1974), is dedicated to Meins. He had earlier been the directors' friend, working as a cameraman. *'' Starbuck-Holger Meins'' (2002) is a documentary film about him by Gerd Conradt.

External links

Biography from rafinfo.de

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meins, Holger 1941 births 1974 deaths People from Hamburg Members of the Red Army Faction People who died on hunger strike Prisoners who died in German detention German people who died in prison custody

As a revolutionary

Aftermath

Representation in other media

See also

External links

References