Irmgard Möller (born 13 May 1947) is a former member of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

group the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

(RAF). Her father was a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and before joining the RAF, she was a student of German studies.

RAF activity

*On 12 May 1972, Möller and Angela Luther walked into

police headquarters The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

carrying suitcases. They placed

pipe bomb A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device which uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively huge explos ...

s in empty offices on the 3rd and 4th floors and walked out again. The subsequent explosions (around 12:15) injured five policemen and caused the fourth floor ceiling to collapse. *On 24 May of the same year it is thought that Möller was one of two people who drove cars full of explosives into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

Headquarters ( G-2), (HQ

USAREUR United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

), at Campbell Barracks in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. Three soldiers were killed in the attack (Ronald Woodward, Charles Peck and Captain Clyde Bonner) and five were wounded. *Möller was set up by fellow Red Army Faction member Hans-Peter Konieczny and was arrested on 9 July 1972, being subsequently sentenced to a lengthy prison term by a

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

court. She was then transferred to

Stammheim Prison Stammheim Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Stuttgart-Stammheim) is a prison in Stuttgart, Baden Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the northern boundaries of Stuttgart in the city district of Stuttgart-Stammheim, right between fields a ...

Imprisonment and suicide attempt

According to prison reports, she attempted suicide by stabbing herself four times in the chest on the morning of 18 October 1977. Of the imprisoned RAF leaders, only Möller survived what is (according to the government) supposed to have been the result of a 'suicide pact' by the group. The other Red Army members

Andreas Baader Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was one of the first leaders of the West German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as ''the Baader-Meinhof Group''. Life Andreas Baader was born i ...

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-foun ...

and

Jan-Carl Raspe Jan-Carl Raspe (24 July 1944 – 18 October 1977) was a member of the German militant group, the Red Army Faction (RAF). Early life Raspe was born in Seefeld in Tirol (then Germany, now Austria). He was described as gentle but had difficulty co ...

died by gunshot or hanging. With the unsuccessful flight 181 action there were not many chances left for liberation. During the height of the

German Autumn The German Autumn (german: Deutscher Herbst) was a series of events in Germany in 1977, mostly late in the year, associated with the kidnapping and murder of industrialist, businessman, and former SS member Hanns Martin Schleyer, president of t ...

the nature of these 'suicides' was believed (and still is) by many to be suspicious given their location in a maximum security prison; Möller herself has always declared that she never attempted suicide and that there was no pre-arranged 'suicide pact' between the prisoners. She claims that the prisoners were assassinated (

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...

) in response to the militants' demands that the prisoners be released (see

). Möller was released from prison on 1 December 1994. Today she lives in anonymity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moller, Irmgard People from Bielefeld People convicted on terrorism charges Members of the Red Army Faction 1947 births Living people Bombers (people) German female murderers

RAF activity

Imprisonment and suicide attempt

See also

References