Fri, Sep 12, 1986
The group had its origins among the radical elements of the German university protest movement of the 1960s, which decried the United States as an imperialist power and characterized the West German government as a fascist holdover of the Nazi era. During a meeting at Christmas 1970, the group agreed that Ulrike Meinhof should write a manifesto, a kind of program statement for the urban guerrillas and thus try to chart the course forward for the armed struggle. They began what they called an "anti-imperialistic struggle", with bank robberies to raise money and bomb attacks against U.S. military facilities. After an intense manhunt, Baader, Ensslin, Meinhof, Meins, and Raspe were eventually caught and arrested in June 1972.
Sat, Sep 13, 1986
On May 31, 1972 - The German Federal Police, BKA, initiates the largest sweep search against the RAF, "Operation Washout". On June 1 - Jan Raspe, Holger Meins and Andreas Baader are arrested in Frankfurt. Andreas Baader is injured at the ensuing shootout. June 7-15 - Gudrun Ensslin is arrested in Hamburg, Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Bernhard Braun are arrested in West Berlin, Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller in Hannover.