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Petra Schelm (16 August 1950 – 15 July 1971) was a German member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) far-left terrorist group. She was killed in a shootout with the police and was the first RAF member to die in a police operation, being shot in Hamburg when caught in a massive cordon and search operation in northern Germany in July, 1971.[1][2]
Early years
With a career as a make-up artist in mind, Schelm trained as a hairdresser. After completely her training, she worked for some time in a craft shop, then as a guide with an American travel company. After this, she lived in Berlin in a Commune and was involved in the so-called extra-parliamentary opposition; it was here that she met boyfriend Manfred Grashof.
RAF involvement
Schelm was active with Ulrike Meinhof and Horst Mahler in the working group on renting and living in the Märkisches district of Berlin, which was dedicated to the "re-socialization of marginalized social communities". However, the extent of her involvement in the working group is not clear. A former employee told Der Spiegel: "Actually, I would have had to know her, but I did not know her."
In June 1970, she travelled via East Berlin to Jordan, where she, together with other RAF members, received military training in a Fatah camp. Due to various differences with their hosts, the training was terminated prematurely. The group returned to Berlin in August 1970.
In the spring of 1971, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) issued a warrant for Petra Schelm and took her photo in a wanted poster. This was based on the suspicion that her acquaintance with Ulrike Meinhof and her environment could have developed into participation in a criminal organization.
At the time of her death, Petra Schelm had not had any contact with her parents for a long time. She had introduced Manfred Grashof to her parents, who asked her father for his daughter's hand in marriage. When he refused to agree, their relationship was broken off.
On 15 July 1971, Schelm was driving through Hamburg with Werner Hoppe in a stolen BMW when she encountered a police roadblock. She sped through it[3] and the police gave chase, forcing the BMW off the road.[4] Schelm and Hoppe then ran off in different directions: Hoppe was followed by a police helicopter and was caught and arrested, but Schelm did not surrender.[5][6] She threw away a jacket she was holding to reveal a handgun and fired at the police; the police returned fire, killing her.[7]
Jillian Becker states that Schelm was killed by a burst of gunfire from a submachine gun, but Stefan Aust states that it was a single bullet wound to the head that killed Schelm.[8] Additionally, a closeup photograph of Schelm taken at the scene immediately after her death (probably by a police photographer) clearly shows a single gunshot wound through the eye.
Some RAF members called for retribution for Schelm's death.
She was buried at a cemetery in Spandau. At her funeral, fifty or so youths laid a red flag on her grave, though policemen later came and removed it.
References
^Wright, Joanne (1991). Terrorist Propaganda : The Red Army Faction and the Provisional IRA, 1968–86. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 180. ISBN9780312047610.
^Nash, Jay Robert (1998). Terrorism in the 20th Century : A Narrative Encyclopedia from the Anarchists, Through the Weathermen, to the Unabomber. New York: M. Evans and Co. p. 194. ISBN9780871318558.
^Hansén, Dan; Nordqvist, Jens (2012). Kommando Holger Meins : dramat på västtyska ambassaden och Operation Leo (in Swedish). Ordfront. p. 47. ISBN978-91-7441-360-1.
^Sanguinetti, Gianfranco (2015). Red Army Faction. Red Brigades, Angry Brigade. The Spectacle of Terror in Post War Europe. John Barker, Charity Scribner. Bread and Circuses. ISBN978-1-62517-888-6.
^Sargeant, Jack (2003). Guns, Death, Terror : 1960s & 1970s Revolutionaries, Urban Guerrillas and Terrorists. London: Creation. p. 172. ISBN9781840680997.
^Graaf, Beatrice de (2011). Evaluating Counterterrorism Performance : A Comparative Study. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. p. 161. ISBN978-1-136-80655-1.
