Holger Meins joined the Baader-Meinhof Gang early in 1971. A leftist Berlin film student, he was tired of being hassled by the police for his political views and wanted to take some direct action. He was to become one of the primary members of the group. Meins was arrested on 1 June 1972 along with Jan-Carl Raspe and Andreas Baader in a bloody Frankfurt shootout.

In prison the gang would call periodic hunger strikes. There was evidence that some of the leaders, such as Baader, faked their hunger strikes. But Meins clearly did not fake his. He died on 11 November 1974 from a hungerstrike. Over six feet tall, Meins weighed less than 100 pounds at death.