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TerrorismGermany

In the shadow of RAF terror: The children left behind

Holger Schmidt | Thomas Schneider
March 15, 2026

Sabine, Clais and Orm were children when their fathers were murdered. The killings, carried out by the far-left German terrorist group the Rote Armee Fraktion ("Red Army Faction”), or RAF, brought an abrupt, violent end to their childhoods. In this film, they share how terrorism changed their lives forever.

https://p.dw.com/p/5AQPy

May 2025 marked 50 years since the first criminal trial of RAF terrorists began in Germany. The group’s most prominent victims, like Hanns Martin Schleyer and Alfred Herrhausen, are still remembered today. But the names of other, lesser-known victims have all but been forgotten: police officers, drivers, government employees, a diplomat.

Some of these victims had children, who were 12, 13 or even just two years old when they lost a parent. The murders robbed them of their childhood and inflicted deep emotional scars that are still felt, to this day. The film provides an important perspective on the history of the RAF. Instead of focusing on the perpetrators, it tells the stories of some of the lesser-known victims of RAF terror.

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