terminology June 2nd Movement

Movement 2 June was the second most prominent left-wing German urban guerrilla group of the seventies. It was founded by former members of Kommune I, and was based in West Berlin.

Movement 2 June was formed in Berlin around 1971. It was built from the remnants of the West Berlin Tupamaros small-level proto-terrorist group which had been around for around three years. The group mostly bombed property targets in Berlin. They named themselves after the date which a young pacifist named Benno Ohnesorg had been killed by police during a 1967 protest in Berlin. They occasionally partnered with the Red Army Faction / Baader-Meinhof Gang with certain actions.

Movement 2 June achieved its greatest “victory” in 1975 when it kidnapped Peter Lorenz, the CDU candidate for Berlin mayor in the upcoming election. The kidnappers demanded and secured the release of four of their imprisoned comrades, who were flown to South Yemen. Lorenz was released unharmed the next day.

Movement 2 June was loosely connected to the Baader-Meinhof Gang, but more often than not, the two groups feuded. Baader-Meinhof was more Marxist in nature, while Movement 2 June was almost anarchist. Movement 2 June disbanded early in the 1980s, with many of its members joining the Red Army Faction (the self-chosen name for the Baader-Meinhof Gang).