US EditionHorst Mahler, German lawyer and former far-left militant, dies at 89
- Horst Mahler, born January 23, 1936, in what is now Poland, was a German lawyer and co-founder of the Red Army Faction who died in a Berlin hospital at age 89 on July 27, 2025.
- He rose to prominence defending left-wing radicals in the late 1960s before co-founding the far-left militant group in 1970 and was arrested that year for bank robberies.
- Mahler later renounced leftist beliefs in prison, shifted to far-right extremism in the 1990s, joined the neo-Nazi NPD, and repeatedly expressed antisemitic views including Holocaust denial.
- He was convicted of incitement several times, sentenced to roughly ten years, released for illness in 2015, fled to Hungary in 2017 to avoid prison, then was extradited back to complete his sentence by 2020.
- His final trial was suspended in 2023 for health reasons, and to the end, Mahler personified how antisemitism spans ideological extremes and rejects liberal democracy with conspiratorial views against Jews.
51 Articles
51 Articles
I met him at a university in the summer of France twenty-six years ago, and he was not a banal character. I speak of Horst Mahler, who died on July 27 in Berlin at the age of 89, most of whom spent in prison. A bit like in the nineteenth century had happened to Auguste Blanqui, a military leader of the French socialists who did not have time to get out that he already let himself be dragged into a new riot. He earned the nickname of a prisoner m…
Jerusalem Post
The ForwardHorst Mahler, one of Germany’s most prominent neo-Nazis, is dead at 89
He was serving several combined prison sentences when he was released due to serious illness in 2015. Once free, he allegedly continued to give talks to neo-Nazi audiences.
Horst Mahler, German Holocaust-Denying Neo-Nazi and Terrorist Gang Founder, Dead at 89
Horst Mahler, a former Marxist revolutionary who later became one of Germany’s most notorious far-right extremists and Holocaust deniers, died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 89. Born on January 23, 1936, Mahler first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as a defense attorney for radical leftist activists. In 1969, he represented Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin—key figures in Germany’s radical scene—before joining them the following year in…
Only at the RAF, then at the NPD: Horst Mahler searched for the extremes. Now he has died. Political scientist Wolfgang Kraushaar explains what he reveals about Germany.
Horst Mahler (1936-2025) | RAF founder and right-wing extremist: Horst Mahler was involved in the founding of the left-wing terrorist Red Army Faction.
Holocaust deniers Horst Mahler died at the age of 89.
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- 37% of the sources lean Left, 37% of the sources are Center
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