CITIZEN'S ACTION GROUP the site and called out to the policeman that he should leave her alone. It is probably only due to the fact that she slipped off the road into a ditch with water up to her knees that she did not receive a second blow, especially since she held up her bloodsmeared hands in defense. My wife finally succeded in returning to the road, but she lost her shoes in the mud. Luckily an ambulance picked her up immediately as she stood on the road bleeding, soaked and barefoot. They laid her on a stretcher and took her to the Wilster hospital. Her wounds were sewn up and she was given medical attention. She had to stay there until 10 p.m. because she also had a fit of vomiting. "(1) I have begun my article by this shortened eye-witness report in order to show with what brutality and contempt for human life the state and its various instruments. police. border guards. and so on, react to citi;:en 's action group protest. The movement against atomic power plants has been a particular target of the state, showing just how strongly it reacts whenever citizens come together and undertake action in a way it can no long coopt or undermine. * :j: * A historical overview of the development of citizen's action groups (Biirgerinilialiven) is still possible today; in their present form and extent, they are a product of the late sixties, although predecessors exist to which we shall return later. Although there are between 3,000 and 5,000 (2) active action groups in Germany today, of which 900 are affiliated with the National Associa- 'tion of Citizens Action Groups for Environmental Protection (B.B.U.), they can be described and evaluated as a whole. They are constitued whenever people - citizens - react to a process or an event which touches them directly and when they then decide to undertake action in common. Often, they are shortlived: they either cease activity once the problem at hand has (1) Eyewitness reports from Brokdorf, BBU documentation. (2) Der Spiegel, 21.3.1977, p. 35; Koiner Sladtanzeiger, 5/6.1.1974. 61
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