German journalist, left-wing activist and author, later part of the Baader/Meinhof group, who used terrorism as a form of political protest.
Meinhof’s father died when in 1940 and her mother in 1948. She was raised by a caring foster-mother. Smart and a natural leader, she married Klaus Röhl in 1961, a columnist and editor in chief of the local paper. They had twin daughters on 21 September 1962. Meinhof became an author, a TV and radio playwright and a talk-show personality.
In 1969, she met Andreas Baader and they teamed up to form the Baader-Meinhof gang, calling themselves RAF (Red Army Faction). They began a series of efficient bank robberies in Berlin in January 1971 and the killing began with their shooting of a cop in October, with a second cop killed on 22 December 1971. Building up an arsenal of guns and explosives, Baader led the gang in planting bombs in an army headquarters on 11 May 1972. The explosion killed one and wounded 13.
The “People’s War” continued with a series of bombings until a secret tip led to the police’s discovery of their bomb factory-HQ. They shut themselves in the garage while the police bombarded them with tear-gas grenades, all shown on live German TV. When Baader was captured, they gave up and were all apprehended, Meinhof on 15 June 1972.
The trial began on 21 May 1975 of Baader, Meinhof, Ensslin and Raspe, with charges that covered 350 pages. While in prison, Meinhof tore the prison towels into strips and hanged herself on 9 May 1976.
Her daughter Bettina Röhl (born 21 September 1962) published the book ‘Die RAF hat euch lieb’ (The RAF loves you) in 2018 where she analyzed her and her twin sister’s childhood experiences critically.
Link to Wikipedia biography