Horst Mahler, far-left German militant turned neo-Nazi, dies at 89
Horst Mahler, a notorious figure in Germany known for his dramatic ideological shift from far-left militant to far-right neo-Nazi and convicted Holocaust denier, has died at the age of 89.
His death was confirmed by attorney Jan Dollwetzel, who represented Mahler in a 2023 trial. Mahler died on Sunday in a Berlin hospital.
A founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF), Mahler helped launch the left-wing extremist group in the 1970s, during a wave of political unrest in West Germany. The RAF carried out a string of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and bank robberies.
Before his involvement in the RAF, Mahler was a radical leftist lawyer who represented prominent figures such as Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld and student activist Rudi Dutschke.
Given that background, his turn to far-right ideology in the 1990s shocked Germany.
Despite the extensive documentation of the Holocaust – through survivor testimony, archival evidence and forensic recovery of remains – Mahler became one of the country’s most outspoken Holocaust deniers. He was repeatedly convicted under Germany’s strict laws prohibiting hate speech and Holocaust denial.
In 2009, Mahler began serving two prison sentences totalling more than 10 years at a facility outside of Berlin. He was released in October 2020.
His final trial, held in 2023, was suspended due to his deteriorating health.
