SPK Complex

The violent activities of radical groups such as the Red Army Faction (or the Baader-Meinhof Gang) in West Germany during the 1970s are well known, but almost forgotten today is the Socialist Patients’ Collective or SPK, the subject of Gerd Kroske’s fascinating documentary. The group originated at Heidelberg University in the early ‘70s as the brainchild of Wolfgang Huber, an assistant in the university’s clinic, who claimed to be inspired by Hegel in his belief that mental illness was a symptom of capitalism and he argued that only the destruction of the system could effect a cure. Among Huber’s followers, some eventually gravitated to the Red Army Faction where they engaged in violence, while others—including Huber and his wife—were arrested as terrorists, convicted, and imprisoned. Huber was released in 1976, but subsequently disappeared (he is seen here only in archival material). Kroske investigates the SPK through an analysis of official records as well as interviews with former members (a woman who vigorously defends Huber, a troubled man who was invited to join the group by Huber but now sorrowfully regrets his involvement, and an individual who turned informant); prosecutors, defense attorneys, and even the judge in Huber’s trial; and guards at the prison where Huber was incarcerated. Also noting the group’s later history and overall influence, SPK Complex provides an intriguing glimpse into a nearly forgotten footnote in the radical movements of the ‘70s. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)