Zieht den Trennungsstrich, jede Minute

On June 7, 1972, Gudrun Ensslin, co-founder of the RAF, was arrested in Hamburg and imprisoned in the Essen correctional facility. There, she was isolated from other inmates and, following a Federal Court ruling on June 12, 1972, was only allowed to receive visits and letters from family members and could only write letters—except to her lawyers—to family members. Her letters were subject to censorship and were frequently confiscated, for example, due to "defamatory statements about the judiciary and authorities investigating me, trying to convince you of my conviction, which aims to abolish the existing free democratic society" (letter dated August 18, 1972). During her imprisonment in Essen, Gudrun Ensslin wrote about 50 letters to her sister Christiane and her brother Gottfried. These letters present a nuanced portrait of Gudrun Ensslin: as a convict and a politically engaged individual.