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Title: Hitler's children: The story of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist gang by Jillian Becker ISBN: 0-397-01153-9 Publisher: Lippincott Pub. Date: 1977 Format: Unknown Binding List Price(USD): $10.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Powerful, if a little overwrought
Comment: Ms. Becker's book is very well documented and is aided greatly by the fact that she doesn't buy into any romantic notions of the RAF's bravery, commitment, or moral sensitivity. She does point out that the early student protests in Germany had just cause and she does take the Berlin police to task for shooting Benno Ohnesorg and for exonerating the policeman responsible ("It was a whitewash.").

A previous reviewer writes: "Even someone wholly against violence, as I am, will empathize with the bravery and idealism of those who risk extermination in support of a cause." Would he (or she) make the same observation about Timothy McVeigh? Or the members of the Manson Family? The only difference between McVeigh and the Unabomber is political philosophy. What is brave about planting a bomb in a car or a building where innocent people can get killed? Did any of these groups or people ever once directly engage soldiers or even the police?

At one point in the notes at the back of this book, Ms. Becker makes an observation that defines these groups and fashionable leftism in a nutshell: "...postwar middle class children in the prosperous societies which alone can afford these 'hip' politics were educated to believe in compassion as a sentiment rather than justice as a principle."

Some of the writing is a little sloppy and one does occasionally wish Ms. Becker would keep her opinions a little more in the background--she was, perhaps reacting to the hip cachet that groups like the RAF had (and still have) among the affluent left intelligentsia.

Try to pick up the 1978 edition, which has some up-to-date info about later RAF actions and the suicides of the leaders. Read this book and your ideas about what's going on in places like Seattle and Genoa will change a little.

Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Social Document
Comment: In contrast to what the previous reviewer claims, I thought that the book was a fine example of excellent journalistic research. It was written from a somewhat biased angle (only towards Andreas Baader)-- but Becker's tone changes throughout the 'history' of the B-M gang. While they are angry students trying to form a resistance group, she keeps things light and at times very comic. However, as the years pass by and each member loses sight of their original goals and goes on rampages, Becker becomes a little more detached and serious. Otherwise, she presents her facts well and in a way that is refreshing to read--without making her book sound like some sort of propaganda or ever disclosing her opinions about the B-M group. It is an interesting find to read in order to find out more clearly what was going on socially in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 70s.

Rating: 1
Summary: Callous and self-righteous propaganda
Comment: This tract does provide interesting factual details about one of the 20th century's most feared terrorist organizations. But it is a relic of its time--blatant propaganda meant to combat the remarkable public sympathy these terrorists' sacrifices had evoked. Even someone wholly against violence, as I am, will empathize with the bravery and idealism of those who risk extermination in support of a cause. Becker has no such empathy, and is obviously so choked with loathing for her subjects that she cannot render them as vivid human beings.

I was disappointed by Becker's tendency to toe the official line--presenting these violent activists as common criminals, and downplaying their personal suffering and the social confusion of the time that make their youthful extremism explicable. Something powerful and relevant could have been gained here, especially given the feminism of the Red Army Faction and the social anomie that gave it birth. The principals themselves were interesting enough to merit a more balanced treatment than this. And the grand-standing references to Hitler are incredibly shallow and self-serving.

All in all, an informative, smart, but sadly biased record. I only hope it saved some lives.