Angelika Speitel

Angelika Elisabeth Speitel (born February 12, 1952 in Stuttgart ) is a former member of the terrorist organization Red Army Faction (RAF). She was involved in the kidnapping and murder of Hanns Martin Schleyer in the so-called German Autumn 1977, was arrested in 1978, sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 1979 , pardoned in 1989 and released from prison in 1990.

Life

Through her work in the Stuttgart office of RAF attorney Klaus Croissant , Speitel came to the RAF, where she held a leading position in the second generation and was involved in the Schleyer kidnapping , among other things . On September 24, 1978, she and RAF members Michael Knoll and Werner Lotze were surprised by two police officers in a small wood in the Kirchhörde district of Dortmund during target practice, whereupon the terrorists opened fire on the officers and shot the police officer Hans-Wilhelm Hansen. Angelika Speitel was shot and arrested by the police officers. Knoll died from his gunshot wounds.

She was sentenced to life in prison on November 29, 1979 for murder and other crimes. She was pardoned on March 8, 1989 by the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker after he had visited her in prison, and was released in 1990. According to Weizsäcker, Speitel "turned away from terrorism [...] and sincerely regretted what she did".

Angelika Speitel was married to the RAF member Volker Speitel , who also worked in Croissants law firm. Her son Grischa was born in 1970.

Today she lives in Bergheim .

Individual evidence

^ Butz Peters : RAF - Terrorism in Germany. Droemer Knaur Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-426-80019-5 .
↑ Terrorists - Something is going on . In: Der Spiegel . No. 37 , 1979, pp. 86-90 ( online - 10 September 1979 ).
↑ She has sincerely regretted what she did . In: Der Spiegel . No. 13 , 1989, pp. 8-10 ( Online - Mar. 13, 1989 ).
↑ Wolfgang Janisch: In search of the truth. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 6, 2014.
↑ Oliver Geyer: "She came into my room. She said she has to go now, fight". Interview with Grischa Speitel, Die Zeit February 28, 2019, p. 13 ff ( zeit.de ; PDF p. 15. )

personal data
SURNAME	Speitel, Angelika
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Speitel, Angelika Elisabeth (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German terrorist of the RAF
DATE OF BIRTH	February 12, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stuttgart

[1] Butz Peters : RAF - Terrorism in Germany. Droemer Knaur Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-426-80019-5 .

[2] Terrorists - Something is going on . In: Der Spiegel . No. 37 , 1979, pp. 86-90 ( online - 10 September 1979 ).

[3] She has sincerely regretted what she did . In: Der Spiegel . No. 13 , 1989, pp. 8-10 ( Online - Mar. 13, 1989 ).

[4] Wolfgang Janisch: In search of the truth. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 6, 2014.

[5] Oliver Geyer: "She came into my room. She said she has to go now, fight". Interview with Grischa Speitel, Die Zeit February 28, 2019, p. 13 ff ( zeit.de ; PDF p. 15. )