        A HERSTORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CELLS AND ROTE ZORA
    
           Armed Resistance in West Germany
    
    
    The Revolutionary Cells (RZ) first appeared on November 16,
    1973 with an attack against ITT in West Berlin to point
    out the participation of this multinational corporation 
    in Pinochet's military putsch in Chile. In 1974, the
    first high-explosive attack was undertaken by the wimmin 
    of the RZ against the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal
    Constitutional Court) in Karlsruhe, the day after it
    supported the abortion law, Par. 218; a paragraph against
    free choice on abortion, allowing abortion only in certain
    cases. The wimmin naturally demanded the total right for 
    every womyn to have an abortion, as a right to self-
    determination over their own bodies. In the first issue
    of Revolutionarer Zorn (Revolutionary Rage) the RZ
    subdivided their actions into three main categories:
    1)anti-imperialist actions, 2)actions against the branches,
    establishments, and accomplices of Zionism in the FRG, and
    3)actions supporting the struggles of workers, wimmin
    and youth, and attacking and punishing their enemies.
    This thematic spectrum was used in the following years.
    
    
    One Revolutionary Cell became several Revolutionary Cells.
    Later on, in the late 70's, the militant actions by the RZ
    became also a part of the anti-nuclear movement (at that
    time people marched in thousands against nuclear power
    and reprocessing plants in Kalkar, Wyhl, Gorleban, and
    Brokdorf) and the Anti-Runway 18 West Movement (Anti-
    Startbahn 18 West-Bewegung) in the Rhein-Main area.
    In this context, only one attack with deadly consequence
    was carried out: the Minister of Economy and Transportation,
    Herbert Karry, was assassinated on May 11, 1981 by the RZ.
    
    
    From 1977 onwards, the militant feminist anti-patriarchal
    wimmin's urban guerilla group Rote Zora (Red Zora) acted
    autonomously and independently, though some wimmin still
    participated in the Revolutionary Cells."Wimmin were
    always a part of the armed groups. Their portion was
    mostly held back. But the times are changing...subversive
    wimmin's groups like Red Zora do exist, indeed still too
    few, but even that will be changing."--Red Zora.
    
    
    Red Zora attacks predominantly patriarchal institutes,
    companies, and persons representing and building up a
    male sexist society, which is oppressing and exploiting
    wimmin worldwide. They are conducting campaigns against 
    porntraders, sex shops, international traders of wimmin
    (those who profit from importing Asian wimmin as "brides"
    for West German men), doctors who are carrying out 
    forced sterilizations, the Doctor's Guild ("We see the
    Federal Doctor's Guild as exponents of rape in white
    trenchcoats"), drug companies (notably Schering who
    produced the birth defect causing drug Duogynon), as
    well as computer companies such as Nixdorf and the
    multinational Siemens. Very popular as well was the
    illegal reprinting of bus and streetcar fares. In
    individual cases, Red Zora and the Revolutionary Cells
    have worked together such as in the writing of a
    critique of the peace movement in 1984. In this paper
    they criticised the peace movement as a bourgeois 
    movement with an apocalyptic vision. The RZ and Red Zora
    said that the major mistake of the peace movement was
    to concentrate their political goal only on the pres-
    ervation of peace in the metropoles instead of discussing
    the imperialist context between armament and crisis; 
    Third World misery and social cutbacks; sexism and racism.
    
    Anti-Imperialism Today
    
    In the last three years the RZ have concentrated their
    actions on the issue of West German foreigner and refugee
    policies."We want to contribute to the recovery of 
    a concrete anti-imperialism in the FRG...Anti-imperialism
    doesn't mean only attacks on the military industrial
    complex and it is more than just solidarity with liberation
    movements worldwide."(Quote from Revolutionary Rage, 
    October 1986).
    
    
    Attacks such as the one on the Center for the Central 
    Register of Foreigners in Cologne on the one hand, or
    the kneecapping of Hollenburg (Chief of Immigration Police
    in West Berlin) show the wide field of these militant 
    politics. While those who are attacked are responsible for
    the racisr refugee policies in the FRG and West Berlin,
    the intention of the attacks on institutions, whose doc-
    uments, files, and data are being destroyed, is to procure
    a space which isn't controlled or regulated by the state.
    "But our actions will fizzle out ineffectually, if they
    don't contribute to a development of a new beginning
    of anti-imperialism within the radical left"(Quote by the RZ).
    
    
    Since the early 70's, the RZ and Red Zora have launched over
    200 attacks. Red Zora's most comprehensive and successful 
    attack campaign so far has been the deposit of incendiary 
    bombs in ten branches of the Adler Corporation, one of
    West Germany's largest clothing manufacturers selling
    discount clothing in the FRG, produced by low paid
    wimmin in South Korean and Sri Lankan factories.
    "The wimmin at Adler in South Korea struggle against the
    exploitation of their capacity for work and are putting
    up a fight against the daily sexism. They call for support
    from the FRG for their struggle. As a result, the shitty
    living and working conditions of wimmin in the vacuous
    production centers of the three continents and especially
    those of Adler in South Korea and Sri Lanka are 
    becoming more widely known here through leaflets, events,
    and actions in front of Adler's retail centers. In these
    actions, anti-imperialism can be practical."(Quote from
    Red Zora, in their Adler statement.)
    
    
    In a later released statement from Red Zora, the 
    consideration was again concretized that the attacks
    were the correct strategy:"Consciousness had already
    been raised through the leaflet actions organized by
    human rights groups (Terre des Femmes) and independent
    church groups. So preparatory work had been done. The
    wimmin in South Korea have taken control of and defended
    their own situation."They went on strike to protest low
    minimum wages, lay offs, deplorable work conditions, and
    rampant sexism from West German foremen."So it was
    possible that the struggle there (by the wimmin in
    South Korea) and the struggle here (by Red Zora) are
    compatible. We aren't fighting for the wimmin in the
    Third World,"they said,"we're fighting alongside them."
    This defines Red Zora's struggle against imperialism.
    
    
    In 1987, when Red Zora and their sister group in
    West Berlin, the Amazonen, fire bombed ten Adler outlets
    throughout West Germany, they caused millions of dollars
    in damages. Because of this, Adler was forced to meet
    the demands of the textile workers. Red Zora and the 
    Amazonen clearly proved that militant resistance can be
    very effective.
    
    
    Both the Revolutionary Cells and Red Zora have anti-
    authoritarian structures and a decentralized decision-
    making process for choosing targets. As well, they point
    out that militant direct actions are just one part of
    the revolutionary movement. Although they participate in
    extensive and far-reaching legal work campaigns and
    social movements through their militant actions, these
    actions aren't of any more importance to handing out
    flyers or leaflets, going to demonstrations, having
    sit-ins, publishing newspapers, educating people, 
    squatting houses, or organizing strikes at work.
    "We don't have a hierarchical system for choosing actions.
    Thinking in hierarchical divisions puts actions in a
    perspective of priveledge and is prone to a patriarchal
    way of thinking."(Quote by members of the RZ in an 
    interview that appeared in Autonomie, 1980.)
    
    
    Besides the RZ and Red Zora, there exists several other 
    militant autonomous groups who are all integral components
    of the revolutionary movement in West Germany and West Berlin.
    Most of these groups originate from the mass social
    movements of the 80's. They all work independently of each
    other and issue political statements of their actions,
    much like the RZ and Red Zora, but unlike them, many of
    these groups haven't been around very long.
    
    
    In 1986, at the peak of resistance aginst the nuclear power
    plant in Brokdorf and the nuclear reprocessing plant
    in Wackersdorf, thousands of people participated in demon-
    strations as a part of the anti-nuclear movement. During
    this time, several hundred attacks were made by militant 
    autonomous cells against certain companies and 
    corporations to protest their involvement in the
    nuclear industry. The most popular activity at this time
    was sawing down electric power lines that were directly
    connected to the nuclear power plants. Around 2-300
    attacks were made. Some of the militant autonomous groups
    from this period have survived into the present. Others
    have disbanded and have gone on th influence and form 
    other groups. Following is a list of a few of these groups.
    It would be impossible to name all of them.
    
    -Revolutionare Handwerker: involved in direct actions against
       nuclear plants by sawing down electric power lines. No longer
       active.
    -Amazonen: Sister group of Red Zora, but independent of them.
       Two people are currently in jail for being members of the
       Amazonen.
    -Zornige Viren: on January 2, 1989, attacked the Gen-Institut
       (Gene Institute) at the University of Darmstadt causing
       DM2,000,000 in damages.
    -Autonome Zellen Alois Sonnenleitner (AS): autonomous anti-
       nuclear cell. Destroyed excavators, trucks, and building
       site of Hofmeister AG (an NPP company) by setting fire
       to them. Alois Sonnenleitner was an elderly man who was
       killed in Wackersdorf by the cops in 1986. Still active.
    -Revolutionare Viren: fighting gene technology, human genetics,
       and biotechnology.
    -Anti-rassistische Zellen: carrying out actions against Shell.
    -Kampfende Einheiten: "Fighting Units".Anti-imperialist cells
       attacking military industrial complexes. One cell, Kampf-
       ende Einheit Crespo Cepa Galende, named itself after an
       ETA (Basque guerilla organization) fighter who was killed
       by the Spanish authorities. Made an attack on a border
       police security building.
    
    
    The militant direct action groups in West Germany and West
    Berlin have received widespread support from the larger
    movements there, including from some of the more liberal
    organizations. This is partially because the underground
    cells are dependent on the larger movements and, as well,
    are active in them. Their actions address issues that many
    people are already educated on and sympathetic to. For 
    example, Red Zora has gained wide popular support because
    their actions appeal to the massive feminist movement
    already existing in West Germany, where the leftist and
    radical media has been doing much work for some time now to
    educate the public on issues involving sexism, wimmin's
    oppression and exploitation, and wimmin's rights to the
    control of their own bodies. While the RZ doesn't claim as
    much support as Red Zora, in 1987, supporters of the 
    Revolutionary Cells published the book Der Weg zum Erfolg
    (The Way to Success), explaining their strategies, politics,
    and actions. Less than a week after the book hit the shelves
    of radical bookstores, the entire printing (around 3000) was
    sold out.
    
    
    The high degree of effectiveness of many RZ and Red Zora actions
    wouldn't be possible without popular support. By themselves,
    their actions would only serve to alienate them from the struggle.
    Moreover, with the support of the mass movements, members of the
    RZ and Red Zora are able to work among the numbers of people active
    in the struggle without exposing their underground identities.
    In their herstory, only one womyn has been arrested for membership
    in Red Zora, but due to lack of evidence against her, the charges
    were dropped. The RZ, however, has had a few convictions over the 
    past 16 years. Ingrid Strobl, most recently was sentenced to five
    years in prison on the 9th of June 1989 for being a member of the
    RZ. Her sentence is the longest issued to any of the convicted
    RZ members. While prisoner support is an important task that
    consumes a great amount of time, most of the work is done by
    the larger movement, and the RZ and Red Zora can continue organ-
    izing actions against oppressive, imperialist companies and 
    corporations.
    
    
    Other revolutionaries sentenced to prison:
    -Erik Prauss and Andrea Sievering: accused of membership in the 
     "terrorist" organisation, Red Army Faction (RAF),and a bombing of
     Dornier, a war corporation, which caused 1.3 million DM in damages.
     Each was sentenced to 9 years in prison on January 18, 1989.
    -Norbert Hofmeier, Barbara Perau, Thomas Thoene, and Thomas Richter:
     accused of membership in the RAF and a bombing. Sentenced all together 
     to 32 years on January 20, 1989. Sentencing judge (Arend) also 
     sentenced Ingrid Strobl.
     Hofmeier-10 years, Perau-9, Thoene-9, Richter-4.
    
    
    In both of the trials involving the mentioned people, the BAW
    (Federal State Prosecutors) and the judges were alledging that
    the accused people were members of the RAF, but this was the
    false claim of the court to get these people stiffer sentences.
    Both attacks (the one at Dornier, and the other at the border
    police security building) were claimed by the Kampfende Einheiten.
    This group works independently from the RAF. But since the RAF is
    defined as a "terrorist" organization by the state, conviction
    as a member can carry a longer sentence. Kampfende Einheiten 
    isn't defined as such and would not be subjected to as heavy
    a sentence. So the BAW and the judges set up the construct of the
    Whole-RAF (Gesamt-RAF) and claimed that Kampfende Einheiten is
    a part of the RAF.
    
    
    At the trial of Erik and Andrea, Eva-Haule Frimpong, an imprisoned
    member of the RAF, stated on the witness stand that "in 4 years,
    no one but myself has been caught from the RAF. The twelve comrades
    of the resistance who were supposedly arrested since then (the
    six from Kiefernstrasse nor the people from Stuttgart) were not
    organized in the RAF." (Quote by Eva on November 29, 1989).
    
    
    -Fritz Storim: sentenced to one year in prison. A teacher, accused of
    supporting the RAF. Supposedly a member of the autonomous newsjournal SABOT.
    
