Ingrid Siepmann (1944–1982, known as Ina) 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 Peter Lorenz (22 December 1922 – 6 December 1987) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In 1975 Lorenz was a candidate for mayor of West Berlin. He was kidnapped by the 2 June Movement group three days before ...

kidnapping and is believed to have died fighting against the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

during the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre.

Life

Ingrid Siepmann was born in

Marienberg Marienberg is a town in Germany. It was the district capital of the Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis (Central Ore Mountains district) in the southern part of Saxony, and since August 2008 it has been part of the new district of Erzgebirgskreis. As of ...

in 1944 and grew up in Schwelm. Her father was pharmacist. She studied

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. In 1965, she married Eckhard Siepmann, having a child with him. Because of her child, she began an apprenticeship as a pharmacist. With her partner and son the family moved to West-Berlin in 1966. After the assassination attempt on

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 ...

in 1968, Siepmann entered into left-wing political activism and the following year she began a relationship with

Dieter Kunzelmann Dieter Kunzelmann (14 July 1939 – 14 May 2018) was a German left-wing activist. Gruppe SPUR In the early 1960s Kunzelmann was a member of the Situationist International-inspired artists' group Gruppe SPUR. Kunzelmann was recognized as the "ch ...

Kommune 1 Kommune 1 or K1 was a politically motivated commune in Germany. It was created on 12 January 1967, in West Berlin and finally dissolved in November 1969. Kommune 1 developed from the extraparliamentary opposition of the German student moveme ...

. From June 1969, she and Kunzelmann were members of the ''Central Council of the wandering hash rebels''. She travelled to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in a bus owned by

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

, together with Roswitha Conradt, Albert Fichter, Kunzelmann and

Georg von Rauch Georg von Rauch (12 May 1947 – 4 December 1971) was a member of the 1960s-70s German student movement. He was part of the Movement 2 June and a leader of the Tupamaros West-Berlin. In 1970 he was arrested for assaulting a journalist. He w ...

. In September 1969, they met high-ranking

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

(PLO) officials such as

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

and Faruq al-Qaddumi. Siepmann stayed for a year, working in a Palestinian medical centre. Emblem der Bewegung 2

After Jordan, Siepmann returned to Berlin and was involved with the founding of the anarchist Movement 2 June (M2J), being taught by

Bommi Baumann Michael "Bommi" Baumann (August 25, 1947 – July 19, 2016) 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 Ge ...

how to make explosive devices. The name M2J was used publicly for the first time by Siepmann to sign a responsibility claim for the bombing of the Federal Criminal Police Office in

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

, Berlin. She was arrested in 1974 and imprisoned, before being freed and flown to

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

the following year after the kidnapping of

. Siepmann lived in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and was involved with anti-Zionist groups. She participated in the 1977 kidnapping of Austrian industrialist which raised funds for 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 ...

and PLO. The following year, Siepmann was detained with

Inge Viett Inge Viett (12 January 1944 – 9 May 2022) was a member of the West Germany, West German left-wing militant organisations "2 June Movement" and the "Red Army Faction, Red Army Faction (RAF)", which she joined in 1980. In 1982 she became the last ...

and Regina Nicolai in Czechoslovakia as they travelled to Baghdad. The three women were interrogated for three days about 2JM and their plans in the Middle East, until Viett asked to speak with her connections in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

officers collected them. They stayed for two weeks in East Germany, then continued their journey.

Death

Siepmann is thought to have died in the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

, fighting with the PLO against

. She is believed to have died in the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Her death was only confirmed in 1998, when the RAF dissolved and supplied a list of its deceased members.

References

{{Authority control 1944 births 1982 deaths People from Marienberg University of Tübingen alumni Immigrants to Lebanon Members of the Red Army Faction People killed in the Lebanese Civil War Women in the Lebanese Civil War