chapter capsules Chapter 6 — Back to Berlin

August 1970 – December 1970, 16 pages: This chapter follows the group as they return to Berlin. Horst Mahler conceives of an audacious plan to rob four banks at one time. During the bank raid that Meinhof was in charge of, she only gets about DM 5,000; she misses a bag containing DM 100,000. Baader harangues Meinhof mercilessly about her foul-up; Meinhof meekly accepts the abuse.

Much of this chapter will also detail the numerous recruits that join up during their first few months back in Germany. Though Mahler and three others are captured within weeks of the gang’s return from the Jordan desert, at least ten other comrades join up to replace them.

In late December several gang members are involved in a shoot-out with police in Nuremburg. No one is hurt, and two gang members are captured. The shoot-out will present the perfect opportunity to detail the growing support of the Baader-Meinhof Gang among young radicals. Because no one had yet been hurt by the gang’s actions (save for the elderly librarian shot during the freeing of Baader), young radicals are able to give vocal support for their efforts without much reservation.