Holger Meins - As A Revolutionary

As A Revolutionary

Meins became an important member of the RAF and was seen somewhat as a leading figure. He was very involved in the gang workings and even had a grenade casing and bomb mould designed which could be placed under a woman's dress, giving the impression that she was pregnant, thereby facilitating the planting of bombs.

On 1 June 1972, Meins and Andreas Baader along with Jan Carl Raspe went to check on a storage garage in Frankfurt where they kept materials for making bombs. However the police had got a tip-off and were waiting for them. Meins and Baader entered the garage and were immediately surrounded. The police blocked the exit of the garage and fired tear gas grenades into the garage via a back window, however Baader simply threw the tear gas back out. The stand off didn't last long after Baader was severely wounded when shot in the hip, and Meins surrendered soon after. Both men were arrested, as was Raspe.

In prison Meins and the RAF-prisoners launched several hunger strikes against the conditions of their imprisonment. Meins died by starvation on hunger strike November 9, 1974. Over six feet tall, Meins weighed less than 86 pounds (39 kg) at the time of his death. It was believed no outside doctors were allowed in to check on Meins during the hunger strike, even though the prison doctors had recommended that he should have been transported to Intensive Care.