Adelheid Schulz

Adelheid Schulz
Born (1955-03-31) 31 March 1955
Lörrach, West Germany
Organization Red Army Faction

Adelheid Schulz (born 31 March 1955) was a member of the West German terrorist Red Army Faction.

Early life

Having trained as a nurse,[1] Schulz moved to Karlsruhe[2] in the early 1970s and took up residence in a flat with Günter Sonnenberg, Knut Folkerts and her boyfriend[3] Christian Klar – who would all at a later time be convicted of terrorist crimes. It was around this time that Schulz was exposed to radicalism, and it was in the seventies that Schulz decided to embark on a life of terrorism.

Terrorism

Schulz became an important member of the second generation of the Red Army Faction.

  • In 1977 she rented an apartment overlooking the villa of Jürgen Ponto, from which he was observed (he was later killed by RAF terrorists).
  • Later in 1977, Schulz was involved in planning the kidnap-murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer.
  • In 1978 she was involved in a gun-battle with four Dutch customs men in the border town of Kerkrade, which resulted in the deaths of two of the Dutchmen.
  • Between November 1978 and April 1979, Schulz was involved in at least three bank robberies.[4]
  • On 11 November 1982, Schulz (along with Brigitte Mohnhaupt) was arrested when entering a hidden arms cache which had been staked out by police, in a forest in the Offenbach district.[5]

Imprisonment and release

Schulz was charged in connection with nearly all Red Army Faction actions between 1977 and 1981,[6] including the murders of Ponto, Siegfried Buback and Schleyer. She was sentenced to three times life imprisonment.[7]

In prison she took part in hunger strikes, for which she was force-fed. She described the force-feeding as follows;[6]

"hours of nausea, a racing heartbeat, pain, and effects similar to fever. At times one experiences hot flashes; then one is freezing cold."

The hunger-strikes left Schulz weakened, and on account of her poor health she was released from prison in 1998 and eventually pardoned by President Johannes Rau in 2002.[8]

Schulz now lives in Frankfurt, but is disabled as a result of her continued poor health, stemming from her hunger strikes.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Affluent, Educated and Deadly, Terrorist Shock Troops Are Laying Siege to West Germany". People.com. 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  2. ↑ "Zeitungsarchiv - Hamburger Abendblatt". Abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  3. ↑ Becker, Jillian. Hitler's Children: The Story of the Baader-Meinhof Terrorist Gang, DIANE Publishing Company 1998, ISBN 0-7881-5472-9 or Panther edition 1978, ISBN 0-586-04665-8, Page. 387
  4. ↑ "RAF - Die Geschichte der Rote Armee Fraktion -Aktuelles". Raf-geschichte-der-rote-armee-fraktion.de. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  5. ↑ "Rote Armee Fraktion | Social History Portal". Labourhistory.net. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  6. 1 2 "Armed Struggle in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1967-1988, a timeline". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
  7. ↑ "AROUND THE WORLD - West German Terrorists Given Life Terms - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. West Germany. 1985-03-14. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  8. ↑ "Rau begnadigt Adelheid Schulz". Spiegel Online. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Lehrer, Schriftsteller, Buchhalter". Spiegel Online. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
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