50 years after the hostage-taking: Memories of the RAF attack in Stockholm

50 years after the hostage-taking: Memories of the RAF attack in Stockholm

Stockholm, Schweden - On April 24, 2025, the 50th anniversary of the brutal RAF attack will be committed to the German message in Stockholm, in which six members of the left-wing extremist Red Army Group (RAF) attacked the message. On this occasion, a plaque is inaugurated that is reminiscent of the tragic events of 1975 and is supposed to honor the victim. German ambassador in Sweden, Christina Beinhoff, described this incident as one of the most serious acts of violence in the history of German-Swedish relations. The attack left deep scars and shocked society in both countries.

The attack started at 11:50 a.m. when the "Command Holger Meiners" stormed the message. During the hostage -taking, the terrorists took twelve people as hostage and killed two diplomats, including the Economic Attache Heinz Hillegaart, whose daughter Viveka Hillegaart now remembers the terrible events. Her father was murdered in the late evening of the attack. The military attaché Andreas von Mirbach also fell victim to the assassins, while several other hostages and embassy employees were seriously injured as explosives.

The demands and reactions

The hostage-takers demanded the release of 26 detained RAF members, including prominent names such as Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Ulrike Meinhof. However, these demands were uniformly rejected by the Federal Government under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Dag Hartelius, State Secretary in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remembered the calls to help from the message and the brutal situation that the country shook.

The dramatic end of the hostage -taking came when the hostages were finally liberated and the attackers could be arrested. Two of the terrorists died of the consequences of their injuries from the explosion, while the surviving attackers received long prison terms. Four of them were later sentenced to life imprisonment, but are now released again.

aftermath and commemoration

The RAF, founded by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin and Horst Mahler, had asked for at least 30 lives with numerous attacks, including bank robberies and bomb attacks. They explained their dissolution in 1998. But the darkness that the country surrounded during the active years of the RAF continues to this day. At the time, it was not used to psychological care for relatives and victims, which affected families such as those affected by Viveka Hillegaart.

Viveka, who took part in the embassy on the 50th anniversary of her father's death, expressed a clear attitude against terrorism and emphasized that violence has no place in a rule of law. The loss not only referred to a loved one, but also to a piece of security and trust in society, which can never be completely produced again.

With the inauguration of the new plaque, not only is the past thought, but also a sign against forgetting. The survivors and relatives of the victims continue to take part in official funeral celebrations in Sweden and Germany to keep the memory of the events alive.

Further information on the backgrounds of the RAF can be found on Planet Wissen, while Tagesschau published about the anniversary has. Ö24 offers a comprehensive overview of the events that took place in the Swedish capital.