interview
After the solidarity demonstration for RAF terrorists in Berlin, political scientist Wolfgang Kraushaar sees a threat from left-wing terrorists. Nevertheless, Islamist and right-wing extremist terrorism should be rated more strongly.
tagesschau.de: We are currently experiencing solidarity rallies and demonstrations for RAF terrorists. Did that surprise you?
Wolfgang Kraushaar: Yes, you have to say that. This is really a big exception. There have hardly been any direct demonstrations of solidarity with the RAF at any time, except when it came to the conditions of imprisonment of RAF members.
In this respect, this is a real surprise, especially after such a long time. The RAF was disbanded over a quarter of a century ago.
tagesschau.de: If such demonstrations are taking place on German streets today, does that mean that the ground has been prepared for left-wing extremist terror in the style of the RAF? Could the RAF then revive again in another generation?
Frizzy hair: Just two weeks ago I would have said that you don’t have to worry about things like that. But now I would see it completely differently. Because the situation has changed. And not just because Ms. Klette was arrested, but because a veritable arsenal of weapons was found on her – in her 40 square meter one-room apartment.
In addition, there was an attack on an electricity pylon near the Tesla factory in Brandenburg by a left-wing group. These things suggest that there may be a particularly dangerous situation. Especially in light of what is currently happening in the Gaza Strip.
To person
The political scientist Wolfgang Kraushaar is considered one of the most prominent German researchers on the history of left-wing extremist terrorism. He works at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research and researches the RAF and international terrorism at the Hamburg Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture.
tagesschau.de: The RAF’s terror had kept the Federal Republic in suspense for many years, if not decades. Was the terror of the RAF deadlier and more dangerous compared to the terror of the right or Islamists?
Frizzy hair: No, I don’t think you can put it that way. It is undeniable that the terrorism for which the RAF, the June 2nd movement and the revolutionary cells stood for has resulted in a large number of deaths. There are officially 34.
But what happened from the Islamist side or from the right-wing terrorist side cannot be hidden behind it, quite the opposite: These two forms of violent, terrorist practice should actually be assessed even more strongly – at least when viewed as a whole.
tagesschau.de: If we look at the situation today: Is Islamist terror the greater threat that should scare us more?
Frizzy hair: I think you have to at least take advantage of this, because otherwise it would misunderstand this dangerous situation. Since 9/11, i.e. the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, we have had a massive threat from Islamism, the “Islamic State,” for example.
This is a very large and very opaque complex, which partly also takes place on the Internet and where we are dealing more with networks than with individual organizations. And sometimes also with individual perpetrators who feel motivated via the Internet.
For example, just a week ago in Zurich there was an assassination attempt by a 15-year-old on an Orthodox Jew who barely escaped with his life. These are things that are really disturbing.
Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorist Violence
March 11th is a day of remembrance for the victims of terrorist violence. It was introduced in Germany in 2022. It follows on from the day of remembrance that was introduced at European level after the bombings in Madrid on March 11, 2004.
tagesschau.de: If we look at terror, especially from the right, and the early forms that many of us can still actively remember: from the Oktoberfest attack to the attacks on refugee homes and migrants. That caused dozens of deaths at the time. Nevertheless, the acts were often not labeled as terrorism. Do you have an explanation for this?
Frizzy hair: Yes, this is really a big problem. Well, in the 1990s we experienced an incredibly long, human-endangering series of arson and murder attacks, without an appropriate government response to them.
I just want to give one example: Holocaust survivor Ralph Giordano had already warned of a vacuum in the rule of law in an open letter to Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1992. In 1993 there was a terrible terrorist attack on a Turkish family in Solingen. Kohl simply explained that he would not engage in sympathy tourism. That was a very clear refusal to face it.
One must contrast this with the fact that between 1990 and 2020 we recorded at least 187 deaths from this form of murder and violence. Only 109 of them are recognized on the official website. That is a really, really big difference. It was much more serious in earlier years because people refused to correctly assign the relevant victims.
tagesschau.de: What consequences did this have for the NSU’s series of terror attacks?
Frizzy hair: There are a number of social scientists who are convinced that this kind of vacuum in the rule of law in the Helmut Kohl era gave young people an opportunity to establish themselves – through right-wing rock concerts and other things. A certain milieu was able to emerge in which certain forms of violence could be tried out and practiced.
Scientists are convinced that this led to the National Socialist underground with its ten deaths.
The interview was conducted by Werner Schlierike/hr-iNFO, editor: Susanne Mayer