Volker Schlöndorff which cast her as both a terrorist and a prostitute. The newspaper is based upon the real right-wing German tabloid "Bild-Zeitung", whose publisher Axel Springer was the inspiration for the character Werner Tötges. In Schlöndorff's view, West Germany had fallen into political hysteria over the activities of the terrorist group the Red Army Faction. The police and journalistic activities in both Böll's novel and Schlöndorff's film portrayed the Red Army Faction era as reminiscent of McCarthyism in 1950s USA, including illegal police raids, phone tapping and tabloid smears. Alhough Böll was heavily attacked after the publication of the novel, both
Red Army Faction politicians (like Richard Nixon and Helmut Schmidt) as well as some former U.S. agents (who were willing to testify) to be called as witnesses. Later when their requests were rejected, U.S. agents Barton Osbourne (ex-CIA, ex-member of the Phoenix Program), G. Peck (NSA), and Gary Thomas gave extensive interviews (organized by defense lawyers) on 23 June 1976 where they explained how FRG support was crucial for U.S. operations in Vietnam. Peck concluded that the RAF "was the response to criminal aggression of the U.S. government in Indochina and the assistance of the German government. The real terrorist was my government."