Holger Meins joined the Red Army Faction (RAF) in the early 1970s. He was a leftist film student. He became a primary member of the RAF, but was arrested together with Andreas Baader and Jan-Carl Raspe in a shootout with the police in Frankfurt on June 1, 1972.

In prison the RAF-convicts launched several hunger strikes against the prison authorities. Meins died on hunger strike November 11, 1974. Over six feet tall, Meins weighed less than 100 pounds at his death.