Petra Schelm (died 1971) was a German founding member of 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). She trained as an urban guerilla in

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 ...

and was killed in a shootout with the police in Hamburg in July 1971.

Early life and RAF

Petra Schelm grew up 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 ...

and worked as a hairdresser. She started a relationship with

Manfred Grashof 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 Patient ...

and the two lived together on Bleibtreustrasse in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. The apartment was used as a distribution hub for the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

newspaper '' Agit 883''. In 1970, Schelm was a founding member of the

(RAF), a far-left militant group. In June 1970, she travelled on false identification to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

with Brigitte Asdonk, Hans-Jurgen Backer,

Monika Berberich Monika Berberich is a convicted West German terrorist and a founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). She was involved in the violent freeing of Andreas Baader in 1970, and served a prison sentence between 1970 and 1988 in connection with ...

, Grashof and

Horst Mahler Horst Mahler (born 23 January 1936) is a German former lawyer and political activist. He once was a far-left militant and a founding member of the Red Army Faction before later switching to neo-Nazism. Between 2000 and 2003, he was a member of t ...

. From there, the group went to

to attend urban guerilla training at a

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...

(PLFP) facility. They were joined by

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 ...

Gudrun Ensslin Gudrun Ensslin (; 15 August 1940 – 18 October 1977) was a German far-left terrorist and founder of the West German far-left militant group Red Army Faction (, or RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang). After becoming involved with co-fou ...

and

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing militant, 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 repute ...

Roadblock and death

On 15 July 1971, Schelm was driving through Hamburg with Werner Hoppe in a stolen

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

when she avoided a police roadblock. The police gave chase and stopped the BMW. Hoppe stepped out of the car and shot at police officers, before escaping; Schelm fired at police and was shot dead. A

police helicopter Police aviation is the use of aircraft in police operations. Police services commonly use aircraft for traffic control, ground support, search and rescue, high-speed car pursuits, observation, air patrol and control of large-scale public events ...

chased Hoppe and he was arrested. Schelm was buried at

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

cemetery in West Berlin. At her funeral, fifty supporters laid a red flag on her grave, which was removed by the police.

Legacy

The Petra Schelm Commando of the RAF bombed the Frankfurt

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the United States V Corps on 11 May 1972, in support of

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

. A lieutenant colonel died and 13 other soldiers were injured. The cost of repairs to the building was calculated to be DM 1,000,000 (or $310,000 at the time).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schelm, Petra 1950 births 1971 deaths People from Hamburg Members of the Red Army Faction People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Germany