A Herstory Of The Revolutionary Cells And Rote Zora - Armed Resistance in West Germany (1988)
The Revolutionary Cells (RZ) first appeared on November 16,
1973 with an attack against ITT in West Berlin to point out the
participation of this multinational corporation in Pinochet’s
military putsch in Chile. In 1975, the first high-explosive attack
was undertaken by the wimmin of the RZ against the
Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) in
Karlsruhe, the day after it supported the abortion law, Par. 218 ;
a paragraph against free choice on abortion, allowing abortion only
in certain cases. The wimmin naturally demanded the total right for
every womyn to have an abortion, as a right to self-determination
over their own bodies. In the first issue of Revolutionarer Zorn
(Revolutionary Rage) the RZ subdivided their actions into three
main categories : 1) anti-imperialist actions, 2) actions against
the branches, establishments, and accomplices of Zionism in the
FRG, and 3) actions supporting the struggles of workers, wimmin and
youth, and attacking and punishing their enemies. This thematic
spectrum was used in the following years.
One Revolutionary Cell became several Revolutionary Cells.
Later on, in the late 70’s, the militant actions by the RZ became
also a part of the anti-nuclear movement (at that time people
marched in thousands against nuclear power and reprocessing plants
in Kalkar, Wyhl, Gorleban, and Brokdorf) and the Anti-Runway 18
West Movement (Anti-Startbahn 18 West-Bewegung) in the Rhein-Main
area.
In this context, only one attack with deadly consequence was
carried out : the Minister of Economy and Transportation, Herbert
Karry, was assassinated on May 11, 1981 by an RZ.
From 1977 onwards, the militant feminist anti-patriarchal
wimmin’s urban guerilla group Rote Zora (Red Zora) acted
autonomously and independently, though some wimmin still
participated in the Revolutionary Cells."Wimmin were always a part
of the armed groups. Their portion was mostly held back. But the
times are changing... subversive wimmin’s groups like Red Zora do
exist, indeed still too few, but even that will be changing." - Red
Zora
Red Zora attacks predominantly patriarchal institutes,
companies, and persons representing and building up a male sexist
society, which is oppressing and exploiting wimmin worldwide. They
are conducting campaigns against porntraders, sex shops,
international traders of wimmin (those who profit from importing
Asian wimmin as "brides" for West German men), doctors who are
carrying out forced sterilizations, the Doctor’s Guild ("We see the
Federal Doctor’s Guild as exponents of rape in white trenchcoats"),
drug companies (notably Schering who produced the birth defect
causing drug Duogynon), as well as computer companies such as
Nixdorf and the multinational Siemens. Very popular as well was the
illegal reprinting of bus and streetcar fares. In individual cases,
Red Zora and the Revolutionary Cells have worked together such as
in the writing of a critique of the peace movement in 1984. In this
paper they criticised the peace movement as a bourgeois movement
with an apocalyptic vision. The RZ and Red Zora said that the major
mistake of the peace movement was to concentrate their political
goal only on the preservation of peace in the metropoles instead of
discussing the imperialist context between armament and crisis ;
Third World misery and social cutbacks ; sexism and racism.
Anti-Imperialism Today
In the last three years the RZ have concentrated their actions
on the issue of West German foreigner and refugee policies. "We
want to contribute to the recovery of a concrete anti-imperialism
in the FRG... Anti-imperialism doesn’t mean only attacks on the
military industrial complex and it is more than just solidarity
with liberation movements worldwide." (Quote from Revolutionary
Rage, October 1986).
Attacks such as the one on the Center for the Central Register
of Foreigners in Cologne on the one hand, or the kneecapping of
Hollenburg (Chief of Immigration Police in West Berlin) show the
wide field of these militant politics. While those who are attacked
are responsible for the racist refugee policies in the FRG and West
Berlin, the intention of the attacks on institutions, whose
documents, files, and data are being destroyed, is to procure a
space which isn’t controlled or regulated by the state. "But our
actions will fizzle out ineffectually, if they don’t contribute to
a development of a new beginning of anti-imperialism within the
radical left" (Quote by the RZ).
Since the early 70’s, the RZ and Red Zora have launched over
200 attacks. Red Zora’s most comprehensive and successful attack
campaign so far has been the deposit of incendiary bombs in ten
branches of the Adler Corporation, one of West Germany’s largest
clothing manufacturers selling discount clothing in the FRG,
produced by low paid wimmin in South Korean and Sri Lankan
factories. "The wimmin at Adler in South Korea struggle against the
exploitation of their capacity for work and are putting up a fight
against the daily sexism. They call for support from the FRG for
their struggle. As a result, the shitty living and working
conditions of wimmin in the vacuous production centers of the three
continents and especially those of Adler in South Korea and Sri
Lanka are becoming more widely known here through leaflets, events,
and actions in front of Adler’s retail centers. In these actions,
anti-imperialism can be practical." (Quote from Red Zora, in their
Adler statement.)
In a later released statement from Red Zora, the consideration
was again concretized that the attacks were the correct strategy :
"Consciousness had already been raised through the leaflet actions
organized by human rights groups (Terre des Femmes) and independent
church groups. So preparatory work had been done. The wimmin in
South Korea have taken control of and defended their own
situation." They went on strike to protest low minimum wages, lay
offs, deplorable work conditions, and rampant sexism from West
German foremen. "So it was possible that the struggle there (by the
wimmin in South Korea) and the struggle here (by Red Zora) are
compatible. We aren’t fighting for the wimmin in the Third World,"
they said, "we’re fighting alongside them." This defines Red Zora’s
struggle against imperialism.
In 1987, when Red Zora and their sister group in West Berlin,
the Amazonen, fire bombed ten Adler outlets throughout West
Germany, they caused millions of dollars in damages. Because of
this, Adler was forced to meet the demands of the textile workers.
Red Zora and the Amazonen clearly proved that militant resistance
can be very effective.
Both the Revolutionary Cells and Red Zora have
anti-authoritarian structures and a decentralized decision-making
process for choosing targets. As well, they point out that militant
direct actions are just one part of the revolutionary movement.
Although they participate in extensive and far-reaching legal work
campaigns and social movements through their militant actions,
these actions aren’t of any more importance to handing out flyers
or leaflets, going to demonstrations, having sit-ins, publishing
newspapers, educating people, squatting houses, or organizing
strikes at work. "We don’t have a hierarchical system for choosing
actions. Thinking in hierarchical divisions puts actions in a
perspective of priveledge and is prone to a patriarchal way of
thinking." (Quote by members of the RZ in an interview that
appeared in Autonomie, 1980.)
Besides the RZ and Red Zora, there exists several other
militant autonomous groups who are all integral components of the
revolutionary movement in West Germany and West Berlin. Most of
these groups originate from the mass social movements of the 80’s.
They all work independently of each other and issue political
statements of their actions, much like the RZ and Red Zora, but
unlike them, many of these groups haven’t been around very long. In
1986, at the peak of resistance aginst the nuclear power plant in
Brokdorf and the nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf,
thousands of people participated in demonstrations as a part of the
anti-nuclear movement. During this time, several hundred attacks
were made by militant autonomous cells against certain companies
and corporations to protest their involvement in the nuclear
industry. The most popular activity at this time was sawing down
electric power lines that were directly connected to the nuclear
power plants. Around 2-300 attacks were made. Some of the militant
autonomous groups from this period have survived into the present.
Others have disbanded and have gone on th influence and form other
groups. Following is a list of a few of these groups. It would be
impossible to name all of them.
Revolutionare Handwerker : involved in direct actions against
nuclear plants by sawing down electric power lines. No longer
active.
Amazonen : Sister group of Red Zora, but independent of them. Two
people are currently in jail for being members of the Amazonen.
Zornige Viren : on January 2, 1989, attacked the Gen-Institut
(Gene Institute) at the University of Darmstadt causing DM2,000,000
in damages.
Autonome Zellen Alois Sonnenleitner (AS) : autonomous anti-nuclear
cell. Destroyed excavators, trucks, and building site of Hofmeister
AG (an NPP company) by setting fire to them. Alois Sonnenleitner
was an elderly man who was killed in Wackersdorf by the cops in
1986. Still active.
Revolutionare Viren : fighting gene technology, human genetics,
and biotechnology.
Anti-rassistische Zellen : carrying out actions against Shell.
Kampfende Einheiten : "Fighting Units".Anti-imperialist cells
attacking military industrial complexes. One cell, Kampfende
Einheit Crespo Cepa Galende, named itself after an ETA (Basque
guerilla organization) fighter who was killed by the Spanish
authorities. Made an attack on a border police security building.
The militant direct action groups in West Germany and West
Berlin have received widespread support from the larger movements
there, including from some of the more liberal organizations. This
is partially because the underground cells are dependent on the
larger movements and, as well, are active in them. Their actions
address issues that many people are already educated on and
sympathetic to. For example, Red Zora has gained wide popular
support because their actions appeal to the massive feminist
movement already existing in West Germany, where the leftist and
radical media has been doing much work for some time now to educate
the public on issues involving sexism, wimmin’s oppression and
exploitation, and wimmin’s rights to the control of their own
bodies. While the RZ doesn’t claim as much support as Red Zora, in
1987, supporters of the Revolutionary Cells published the book Der
Weg zum Erfolg (The Way to Success), explaining their strategies,
politics, and actions. Less than a week after the book hit the
shelves of radical bookstores, the entire printing (around 3000)
was sold out.
The high degree of effectiveness of many RZ and Red Zora
actions wouldn’t be possible without popular support. By
themselves, their actions would only serve to alienate them from
the struggle. Moreover, with the support of the mass movements,
members of the RZ and Red Zora are able to work among the numbers
of people active in the struggle without exposing their underground
identities. In their herstory, only one womyn has been arrested for
membership in Red Zora, but due to lack of evidence against her,
the charges were dropped. The RZ, however, has had a few
convictions over the past 16 years. Ingrid Strobl, most recently
was sentenced to five years in prison on the 9th of June 1989 for
being a member of the RZ. Her sentence is the longest issued to any
of the convicted RZ members. While prisoner support is an important
task that consumes a great amount of time, most of the work is done
by the larger movement, and the RZ and Red Zora can continue
organizing actions against oppressive, imperialist companies and
corporations.
Other revolutionaries sentenced to prison :
Erik Prauss and Andrea Sievering : accused of membership in the
"terrorist" organisation, Red Army Faction (RAF), and a bombing of
Dornier, a war corporation, which caused 1.3 million DM in damages.
Each was sentenced to 9 years in prison on January 18, 1989.
Norbert Hofmeier, Barbara Perau, Thomas Thoene, and Thomas
Richter : accused of membership in the RAF and a bombing. Sentenced
all together to 32 years on January 20, 1989. Sentencing judge
(Arend) also sentenced Ingrid Strobl. Hofmeier - 10 years, Perau -
9, Thoene - 9, Richter - 4.
In both of the trials involving the mentioned people, the BAW
(Federal State Prosecutors) and the judges were alledging that the
accused people were members of the RAF, but this was the false
claim of the court to get these people stiffer sentences. Both
attacks (the one at Dornier, and the other at the border police
security building) were claimed by the Kampfende Einheiten. This
group works independently from the RAF. But since the RAF is
defined as a "terrorist" organization by the state, conviction as
a member can carry a longer sentence. Kampfende Einheiten isn’t
defined as such and would not be subjected to as heavy a sentence.
So the BAW and the judges set up the construct of the Whole-RAF
(Gesamt-RAF) and claimed that Kampfende Einheiten is a part of the
RAF.
A the trial of Erik and Andrea, Eva-Haule Frimpong, an
imprisoned member of the RAF, stated on the witness stand that "in
4 years, no one but myself has been caught from the RAF. The twelve
comrades of the resistance who were supposedly arrested since then
(the six from Kiefernstrasse nor the people from Stuttgart) were
not organized in the RAF." (Quote by Eva on November 29, 1989).
Fritz Storim : sentenced to one year in prison. A teacher, accused
of supporting the RAF. Supposedly a member of the autonomous
newsjournal SABOT.