Commemorative demonstration on the 4th anniversary of the racist attack in Hanau
On February 19, 2020, 9 people were murdered in Hanau for racist motives. Their names are: Ferhat Unvar, Hamza Kurtović, Said Nesar Hashemi, Vili Viorel Păun, Mercedes Kierpacz, Kaloyan Velkov, Fatih Saraçoğlu, Sedat Gürbüz, Gökhan Gültekin.
It was no coincidence that the perpetrator chose places where people who are read as migrants meet: a shisha bar, a kiosk, a café. Racist, antimuslim and antisemitic ideas were his ideological motivation for planning and carrying out the attacks.
This attack clearly demonstrated the repeated failure of the German security authorities in connection with racist murders: they did not recognize or react to the fact that a right-wing extremist perpetrator known to the police was preparing an attack in advance, the authorities had arranged for the emergency exit at one of the crime scenes to be kept closed for racist reasons, they did not respond to emergency calls during the crime, and in the aftermath a complete investigation of the crime was prevented. On the night itself, 13 police officers from a now disbanded SEK unit were deployed, who were part of a right-wing extremist chat group of the Frankfurt police.
Relatives and survivors also received little to no support after the attack. On the contrary – even on the night of the attack, survivors were not treated as victims but as suspects. They only received medical help late; some were sent alone to a distant police station at a time when the perpetrator himself was still on the streets. Relatives of the victims were kept in the dark for a long time, without psychological support. Even in the long term, relatives and survivors were largely left alone with their worries. They have not yet received any compensation. They have also been denied a memorial on Hanau’s market square. It is thanks to the Initiative 19 February – a self-organized group of relatives and supporters – that people received support immediately after the attack and that they continue to demand a full investigation into the murders, as well as consequences and an appropriate commemoration of the victims.
The crime and the treatment of those affected afterwards, as well as the lack of political consequences, are by no means an isolated incident. Just four months earlier – on October 9, 2019 – two people were also murdered by a right-wing terrorist in Halle. He tried to force his way into the synagogue in the Paulusviertel district to kill the people gathered there. After he did not make it into the synagogue, he shot Jana Lange, a passer-by, in front of the building and Kevin Schwarze, a customer in the „Kiez-Döner“ snack bar.
Both perpetrators had previously shared their racist and antisemitic views on the internet. Although they publicly shared their antisemitic and racist murder fantasies, they were still able to keep weapons at home, plan their actions and ultimately carry them out.
With the strengthening of right-wing parties, the political implementation of far-right demands by supposedly bourgeois parties, the so-called bourgeois center moving closer to right-wing ideology and the increasing racism, Islamism and fascism within the immigrant community, there is a growing risk that people will continue to be murdered for racist, antisemitic, anti-queer or anti-feminist motives.
Whether Halle, Hanau or the NSU, these are not isolated cases. Racism kills. Antisemitism kills. Right-wing violence kills. Fascism kills.
That is why „Never again“ must not degenerate into an empty phrase.
Never again is now.
Now that the AfD, Identitarians and other right-wing groups are meeting in secret to plan the expulsion and deportation of millions of migrants and BPoCs. Now, when right-wing military and police officers are stockpiling weapons and preparing for a day X when they will kill opponents and take political power. Now, when the EU decides to cram refugees into prisons at the EU’s external borders. Now that fascization is already in full swing.
In Hanover, too, the number of right-wing extremist acts of violence is steadily increasing and people are being actively threatened. Most recently, several people in the Ahlem district were threatened by racist and anti-queer violence. The Ahlem memorial was desecrated in an antisemitic attack. The Freizeitheim Vahrenwald was smeared with antisemitic slogans. Racist slogans on „migrant“ restaurants and other buildings in various parts of the city. A mosque in the center of Hanover received a right-wing extremist threatening letter with a swastika. It is signed „NSU 2.0“. The snack bar in the same building was also the target of an arson attack.
Right-wing and racist incidents in the police force keep coming to light. From racist police checks at Hanover Central Station to so-called „Reichsbürger“ in the Lower Saxony police force. One of these „Reichsbürger“ was responsible for the security assessment of the liberal Jewish community in Hanover after the attack in Halle.
We ask: How much is the protection of the lives of us (post-)migrants, Jews, Black people and People of Color worth to the security authorities and the majority society?
We demand justice, remembrance for the victims of the racist murders in Hanau, a complete investigation of the crime and the failure of the authorities and the state, as well as political consequences that prevent further acts of this kind.
We call on you to join our protest on February 19, 2024!
5 pm rally Halim Dener Platz (Pfarrlandplatz, Hanover-Linden)
followed by a demonstration to Steintor
19:00 Vigil with Çay and soup at the Cumberland stage
Please do not bring national flags and party flags.
Migra-Bündnis 