Documentary · History

Staatsgeheimnis RAF – Terroristen in der DDR

In the 1980s, the GDR provided shelter to ten RAF terrorists. The State Security Service (Stasi) furnished these individuals — who had left the group — with new identities, enabling them to lead inconspicuous lives within the GDR. Among them was Silke Maier-Witt, a member of the second generation of the RAF, who had been involved in the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer. She recounts her experiences during her time in the socialist German state. Filmmaker Claus Räfle reconstructs how the Stasi protected these former terrorists and concealed their identities. Through interviews with Silke Maier-Witt, other contemporary witnesses, and experts — complemented by archival footage and photorealistic, AI-animated scenes (created by Helmut Fischer and Parviz Balucci) that capture the atmosphere of the era — the film unfolds as a historical documentary-thriller.