Post-9/11 Literature: Number 2

"I don't know what happened," she said. "I'm only telling you what people believe. It was 25 years ago. I don't know what it was like then, in Germany, with bombings and kidnappings."

I’d never heard of Baader-Meinhof before reading this story. Looking back, I can clearly remember times when I’ve crossed paths with a cultural reference towards it: during the movie Munich, a brief mention towards the end of World History class, a shirt with the iconic symbol. I’m almost mad at myself for not being informed; I tend to picture myself as someone who is up to date on current (and past events), and not knowing about Baader-Meinhof kind of soils my reputation I’ve given to myself.
I feel like my ignorance tells a lot about the post-9/11 mind set, an idea broached in Don DeLillo’s short story, “Baader-Meinhof.” The Red Army Faction–along with the trials of its members–became a main fixture in German culture for decades. There were riots, murders, and vigils from all sides of the conflict. All of this stemmed from terrorism, now a main fixture of American society when it flew over the ocean and in to two buildings in New York city. The difference between Baader-Meinhof in Germany and 9/11 in America has to do with the reaction of the American public. Most of the public, including the female character in DeLillo’s story, wouldn’t think to compare what happened in Germany during the 60's and 70's to the recent act of terrorism in 2001. Like the woman in “Baader-Meinhof”–who says “I don’t know what it was like then, in Germany, with bombings and kidnappings”–many Americans tend to see the terrorism that took place during 9/11 as a phenomenon in man’s history. 9/11 was an atrocity, considered to be the worst act of terrorism in American history, but man has been killing man for centuries. The American public needs to look to the past–only having to search as close as 1976–to find terrorism’s roots.