| Rote Hilfe e.V. Red Aid | |
| Founded Date: | 1975 |
| Location: | Göttingen |
| Area Served: | Germany |
Rote Hilfe e.V. ("Red Aid," abbreviated RH)[1] is a German far-left prisoner support group. RH was founded in 1975, although localized groups calling themselves "Rote Hilfe" had begun to appear at the end of the 1960s.[2] [3] The group views itself as a successor to the Weimar-era Rote Hilfe. In the 1970s, it worked on behalf of Red Army Faction prisoners, and a few RH members went on to join the RAF or similar groups (e.g., Angelika Speitel and Hans-Joachim Klein).[4] [5] Today half of Rote Hilfe's budget is spent paying the legal fees, fines, and expenses of left-wing prisoners. It also publishes a quarterly journal, Die Rote Hilfe ("Red Aid"), and other publications, organizes events, etc. RH is headquartered in Göttingen[6] and, as of 2023, had about 13,700 members.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution considers it a "left-wing extremist" organization. State Office in Baden-Württemberg wrote, becaue RH is talking from "political prisioners", she would question whether there is “the rule of law in Germany".[7]
In the early 1980s, a campaign of the left-wing autonomeous movement to refuse to give any statements to the police was very successful: “Anna and Arthur keep their mouths shut!” ("Anna und Arthur haltens Maul"). In the 1990 the campain was taken up by Rote Hilfe e. V. and in 2000 the Rote Hilfe started another campaign to refuse to testify, this time under the slogan “Please don’t say anything now”. With regard to the appearance in and use of social media and the general use of new communication options, the original slogan has now been expanded to “Anna and Arthur (continue to) keep their mouths shut!”