anti-semitism

Murdered Shoah survivors: Blanka Zmigrod, unforgotten

by

A right-wing terrorist murdered the Shoah survivors in Frankfurt am Main in 1992. A petition wants to prevent Zmigrod from being forgotten.

Blanka Zmigrod was shot 25 years ago in the Kettenhofweg in Frankfurt’s Westend Photo: Christoph Boeckheler

BERLIN taz | The Kettenhofweg in Frankfurt am Main is a green, quiet street. It meanders through the Westend district, past Wilhelminian-style buildings and individual skyscrapers, to Opernplatz. From here Blanka Zmigrod made her way home on February 23, 1992.

Zmigrod was shot in the Kettenhofweg. Her killer: a Swedish right-wing terrorist who previously shot eleven people with a migration history in Sweden for racist motives and killed the student Jimmy Ranjbar. In Frankfurt, the terrorist shot at Zmigrod – whom he had accused of stealing his pocket computer as a cloakroom operator in a restaurant. Whereupon he racially insulted her – and later murdered her.

Nothing on the Kettenhofweg reminds you of Blanka Zmigrod. And that annoys Ruben Gerczikow. “Since I often walk down the street, I was surprised that there was nothing there,” says the Frankfurt resident, who is also a board member of the Jewish Student Union, of the taz. In conversations with personalities from the city community and befriended members of the Jewish community, he found that only a few remember the murder.

“The case is not in the collective memory,” says Gerczikow. He therefore started the online petition “Blanka Zmigrod unforgotten” to Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD). The goal: a memorial in memory of Zmigrod and her life.

Not in the collective memory

Not much is known about Zmigrod: She survived two concentration camps, including Auschwitz. After the liberation she emigrated to Israel before she came to Frankfurt am Main in 1960.

The 2017/18 criminal trial in Frankfurt was unable to clarify whether her murderer saw the concentration camp inmate number that Zmigrod had tattooed on his forearm. Although he was sentenced to life imprisonment with subsequent preventive detention for murder, a possible political motive played no role in the process.

Neo-Nazis celebrated the series of murders: They printed T-shirts with the name of the murderer. The Norwegian right-wing terrorist from Oslo and Utøya, Anders Breivik, saw it as a role model, the NSU as a blueprint.

“Everyone knows the names of the perpetrators, we talk far too little about those affected,” says Gerczikow. A monument to Zmigrod would be a sign of solidarity with those affected by racist and anti-Semitic violence. And against forgetting. “A badge is the minimum,” says Gerczikow. The responsible local advisory board apparently wants to deal with the matter soon.

.

ATTAC against the creation of enemy images (daily newspaper Junge Welt)

by

Demonstration of the Braunschweig »Alliance against the Right« (December 5, 2020)

In a declaration on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the ATTAC network takes a stand against racism, anti-Semitism, images of the enemy and misrepresentation of history. It says:

On the occasion of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army, the nationwide ATTAC working groups on globalization and war and on Europe published a declaration entitled “No to racism, anti-Semitism, the production of enemy images and the distortion of history”.

It says that commemorating the crimes of Nazi Germany today means the obligation to defend oneself against the tendencies that already led to Auschwitz. Therefore, according to the declaration, “we are committed to the fight against racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, legal development, neo-fascism and social inequality”.

The declaration also turns against the instrumentalization of Auschwitz, as it is e.g. B. was already expressed in the justification of the illegal war against Yugoslavia in 1999.

The explanation is sharply criticized at the increasing production of enemy images in international relations, with Russia and increasingly China as the main targets, which serves to justify a new Cold War ideologically. The declaration refers to the grotesque staging in the Navalny case and the uncritical court reports of many media.

The declaration also opposes the misrepresentation of history as part of the creation of images of the enemy, such as those found in B. is expressed in the resolution of the EU Parliament of 19.9.2019. Their claim that the “Hitler-Stalin Pact” – concluded a week before the start of the war – set the course for World War II is an absurd falsification of the prehistory of the war.

Explanation in full: https://kurzelinks.de/wpgg

The EU Council has on Monday beborn Conclusions on the EU’s future policy towards Venezuela in view of the parliamentary elections on December 6th, 2020. This is the first time the opposition Juan Guaidó appears officially Not more as “interim president” designated:

(…) The EU deeply regrets that the parliamentary elections of December 6, 2020 were a missed opportunity for democracy, which were held without a national agreement on electoral conditions and which did not meet international standards for a democratic process. As a result, the EU cannot recognize this electoral process as credible, inclusive or transparent, and therefore its result cannot be seen as representative of the democratic will of the Venezuelan people. The EU deeply regrets the actions of the Maduro authorities, who have severely restricted the democratic space in the country and persistently prevented a solution to the far-reaching political crisis in Venezuela.

The EU reaffirms its support for all who work for a democratic future for Venezuela. The EU once again calls for the guarantee of all political and civil rights, the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and the freedom and security of all political opponents, in particular the representatives of the opposition parties elected to the National Assembly in 2015, including, above all, Juan Guaidó and other representatives of the democratic Opposition. The EU regards them as key actors and privileged interlocutors, and encourages the democratic opposition to take a united stance on an inclusive dialogue and negotiation process. (…)

.

“Natural Born Killas” by Asche & Kollegah: Ers öder Junge – Kultur

by

Awesome performance right at the beginning: the entire lyrical self packed into just four bars. First song, first lines: “Stafford Dogs without collars / Versace pillows as silencers / Natural Born Killas, alpha men / Your head becomes a salt dispenser”. Everything said. Strong. But also leads to the question: What can still come after that? More on that in a moment.

Kollegah has always positioned himself in the now bulging figure cabinet called Deutschrap as a kind of designer-twine-tailor-made mafia boss muscle mountain with extremely large cigars and a pinch of superhuman demeanor. Over the years there have been highly ambitious, detailed violent fantasies (“I’ll leave you dead / burn your extended family / and it fits in a fuckin ‘two-square-meter boat cabin”). A bit of a dealer pose (“I stowed weedpacks and white stuff in the glove compartment / The handgun pokes out of the suit jacket”). And, one shouldn’t hide that, technically outstanding rhymes. Just two favorite examples from the same songs: “You have drugs with you? I like to take a sample! / But don’t find the skin clean like Seal’s dermatologist”. And: “I’m not a British lord, but give ‘my’ servants bells / If they don’t bow to Sir like giant waves”

After all, because of him the echo was abolished

Stop! Read the last two lines again and insert the phonetically similar word “surfer” in the right place. Yes, Kollegah can be that good.

And so stupid. The rapper, whose real name is Felix Blume and who once studied law, repeatedly flirted with stupid anti-Semitism. The high point so far was the song “0815” from the collaboration album “Jung, brutal, gutaussehend 3” (2017), on which Farid Bang was allowed to rap the line “My body is more defined than by Auschwitz inmates”. There was a lot of criticism, little insight and, because the prize was brainlessly awarded based on sales figures, an echo in 2018. The echo was then abolished (at least). Kollegah stayed and now has a new album.

The boring end of constant provocation: “Natural Born Killas” by Asche & Kollegah

(Foto: Alpha Music Empire)

It’s called “Natural Born Killas” and it faces the old problem that will eventually catch up with even the greatest Zündler: Kollegah has now played through all levels of provocation. Anti-Semitism, to stay in its jargon, is the ultimate boss in Germany. That means, and so back to the beginning: After that, nothing more will come.

The rapper Asche, who is there as a collaboration partner for street credibility this time, tries on the song “Ayayayay” with some vigilante drivel: “I train kids to be kickboxer fighters / And send them on the hunt for this one Christoph Metzelder “. Otherwise there are still interchangeable sad things from a world in which men are either victims or superior, alpha or leek. And the women whores. The songs are called “We are the perpetrators” or “Gladiator”, simulate, meanwhile somewhat helplessly, an underdog attitude (“I’m still doing rap in a ghetto”) and have surprisingly weak stick goods beats.

That is to say: Kollegah has finally become its own number revue. A kind of weight bench arrest warrant – without the pain that makes the Offenbach rapper so cursed. Or to use the currently somewhat more powerful reference (commonly known as “alpha perpetrator”): a testosterone-trained Lisa Eckhart with a lot of body hair. Ayayayay.

.

New German mainstream

by


Opinion makers in the cultural sector who have a problem with the Israeli state act as if they are in the minority. The opposite is the case. The grotesque theses of supposed critics of Israel have already shifted political discourse to that extent. .

Attack in front of the synagogue in Hamburg: according to the indictment, the attack is apolitical

by

The Hamburg public prosecutor wants to indict the man who attacked a Jew in front of the synagogue. She does not see a political motive.

After the fact: State rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky in front of the barrier tape of the Hohe Weide synagogue Photo: Jonas Walzberg / dpa

HAMBURG taz | The Hamburg public prosecutor’s office has completed the investigation into the attack in front of the Hohe Weide synagogue in Hamburg. In October, a 29-year-old man attacked a 26-year-old student wearing a kippah in front of the synagogue and seriously injured the head. However, according to the public prosecutor’s office, there were no indications of an anti-Semitic motive in the course of the investigation. The Jewish community in Hamburg is irritated.

Nana Frombach, spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office, told the taz: “There is no evidence of a political motive.” Instead, the motive lies in the suspect’s mental illness.

The man is currently still in a mental health facility. He is said to have attacked the 26-year-old from behind with a spade at the entrance to the synagogue in the Eimsbüttel district, wearing a Bundeswehr camouflage suit. The attacked person first had to be admitted to the intensive care unit because of his head injury.

The security service of the Jewish community and the police stationed in front of the synagogue were able to arrest the attacker immediately after the crime. While in custody, he was transferred to a psychiatric facility.

The perpetrator should be incapable of guilt

“The investigations have shown that a sufficient suspicion of attempted murder and serious bodily harm has been confirmed,” says Frombach. No base motives were found, but the act was insidious. Even if a piece of paper with a painted swastika was found in the attacker’s pockets, a political motive for the act can be ruled out.

Although the act and the motive are related to the Jewish faith, this relationship primarily consists in the suspect’s illness. It was therefore not a question of a clearly political act. “Because of the state of health, we assume that the suspect is incapable of guilt,” says Frombach.

Philipp Stricharz, chairman of the Hamburg Jewish Community

“It sounds very remote that it was not an anti-Semitic act”

The act had caused horror nationwide because it was seen as another anti-Semitic attack. “How can that happen again, one year after Halle?” Asked the Hamburg regional rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky in the evening after the attack.

The act took place a few days before the anniversary of the attack on the synagogue in Halle an der Saale. And in the synagogue the congregation was celebrating the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. Bistritzky was also on the way to the synagogue at the time of the crime.

Jewish community is surprised

The Hamburg police initially shared the assumption that there was a political motive: “Based on the current assessment of the overall circumstances, the act can be assumed to be an anti-Semitic attack.” Philipp Stricharz, chairman of the Jewish community in Hamburg, surprised the new one all the more Assessment. “It sounds very remote that it was not an anti-Semitic act,” he says.

The Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism (JFDA) is outraged: “Such acts do not happen out of nowhere,” says its spokesman Levi Salomon. Finally, a person in front of a synagogue who could also be recognized as a Jew because he was wearing his kippah was targeted. “To think that such an act is apolitical and not anti-Semitic is outrageous.” Even if someone is mentally ill, his act must be viewed politically.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, there was no evidence of other accomplices. According to information from the magazine The mirror The suspect reported for voluntary military service in 2016 and stayed with the Bundeswehr for at least the year. Therefore, he is said to have been in possession of the camouflage clothing that he wore during the attack.

The Hamburg district court will shortly have to decide whether it will allow the lawsuit. Because of the suspect’s state of illness, the trial could take place in camera.

.

Why the objections to Gal Gadot as Cleopatra are racist

by

Dif a woman – Laeta Kalogridis – wrote the script for the new Cleopatra film, a woman – Patty Jenkins – directs it, and a self-confident oriental woman – the Israeli “Wonder Woman” actress Gal Gadot – plays the leading role, would have to have feminist hearts let beat faster.

But no. The problem is of course the Jewess. The uprising against Gal Gardot is not only raging on social media, which a former head of the WELT feature section rightly called the “dance floor of madness”. Even in the reputable Guardian, the film critic Hanna Flint wrote that the cast of Cleopatra with Gadot instead of a “North African” actress was another example of the “whitewashing” of the Egyptian queen, the “colonization of ethnicity by Hollywood”.

.

Norway under National Socialism: The Silence of the Home Front

by

A non-fiction book is a hot topic in Norway. It questions the common narrative of the resistance against National Socialism.

November 26, 1942: 530 Norwegian Jews in the port of Oslo before deportation to a concentration camp Photo: Fossu / NTB scanpix / akg images

“The life’s work of our parents and grandparents is being dragged into the mud”, complained a few weeks ago children and grandchildren of eight families of former resistance fighters against the occupation of Norway by Hitler Germany in a joint statement: “For us they were role models and now they should be fundamental ideals trampled our society? “

Anyone who claims such a thing must also provide evidence. And there is no such thing. Rather, it is now clear that such accusations are misleading history. Which is why one now wants to take legal action: “Not only for the sake of the reputation of one’s own family, but also to leave a picture of war history as truthful as possible for future generations.”

There is a lot of excitement about a book in Norway right now. The first edition, published in 2018, already asks in the title “Hva visste hjemmefronten?” (“What did the home front know?”). Its author, the journalist Marte Michelet, questions parts of the popular narrative about the Norwegian resistance and accuses him and the Norwegian government-in-exile in London of not really trying to prevent or at least limit the Holocaust of Norway’s Jewish population . Although they would actually have been able to do so.

In Denmark, which was occupied by the Wehrmacht at the same time as Norway, almost the entire Jewish population was able to get to safety from the impending deportation to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Partly thanks to the heroic efforts of many Danes. The rescue operation, with which 7,742 people on board several hundred boats and fishing cutters were rescued across the sea to Sweden on October 1, 1943, became legendary.

The eyes closed to the deportations

It was indeed an exception in Nazi-occupied Europe. But wouldn’t a similar “exception” have also been possible in Norway? Especially since the border between Norway and Sweden, Europe’s longest land border, was never even remotely controlled by the German occupying power. Hundreds of Jews were able to escape to Sweden through this.

In her first book, “Den største forbrytelsen” (“The greatest crime”), Michelet had already touched on this question in 2014 and came to the conclusion that it was not only Vidkun Quisling and the party members of his fascist “National Collection” who were sent to the Gestapo Had gone hand in hand to ship 773 Jews to the death camps. There were enough helpers and too many Norwegians would have closed their eyes.

The established story so far has been: A nationwide arrest by the Gestapo in November 1942 and the subsequent mass deportation came like a bolt of lightning out of the blue in Norway. The home front did everything in its power to save at least part of the Jewish population. What Michelet in “Hva visste hjemmefronten?” Fundamentally questions on the basis of new documents.

Their claim: The Gestapo action had become known to central people on the “home front” three weeks earlier, but anti-Semitism was quite widespread among them as well as in Norway as a whole. The fate of the Jewish fellow citizens was therefore relatively indifferent to them.

A journalist reveals what historians have missed? Worse still: you deliberately swept something under the rug? The reproach was of course serious

Similar to her first book, which was not only named “Nonfiction Book of the Year”, but also, for example, by the daily newspaper Our country Had been recommended as “required reading in all schools”, Michelet’s “Hjemmefronten” book was also highly praised when it was published. For Dagbladet it was the “most important book of the year”, The class struggle judged “good, sensational and convincing” and VG said that what historians have long been neglecting, the author is now finally doing.

A journalist reveals what historians have missed? Worse still: you deliberately swept something under the rug? The reproach was of course serious. In November Mats Tangestuen, Bjarte Bruland and Elise Berggren published a kind of “counter-book”. Tangestuen is a historian at the University of Bergen and an employee at the Jewish Museum in Oslo. Bruland also worked there, was temporarily director of the Jewish Museum Trondheim and published a book about the Holocaust in Norway two years ago. Berggren is currently writing a master’s thesis on the restitution of Jewish property in Norway.

Criticism of the author, but also approval

“Many and gross mistakes” would have caused them to write their “report of a review” of the Michelet book, they justify their publication. Overall, they admit to the journalist that they “asked important questions”. All the more serious, however, is the fact that their answers are “characterized by extensive systematic errors”: selective source selection, misinterpretations, abbreviated quotations. If history is to be credible, one shouldn’t let that get away with.

Yes, she will probably have to correct a few footnotes, Michelet now admits, after initially reacting arrogantly and categorically rejecting the criticism as “pedantic”. But what does that change in the overall picture?

Tore Pryser, history professor in Lillehammer, shares her assessment and accuses the authors of the “counter-book” of “mere nagging”. “We historians have failed,” says Eirinn Larsen, Professor of History at the University of Oslo. After the end of the Second World War, a “basic patriotic narrative” had become dominant, in which the Norwegian resistance struggle played the central role and “neither the fate of the Jews nor the role of women found a place”.

The Danish historian Bo Lidegaard, author of a book about the rescue of the Danish Jews, states that there is no simple answer to the question of who did what or failed to do what when, as in Norway, one had a population that was itself a victim. In all the countries concerned, it was a difficult debate that often took decades to get going. Germany had come the furthest on the question of its moral responsibility, but was also forced to do so. In Norway, as a country on the side of the “winners”, the tendency to look in the mirror may have been neglected.

Anti-Semitism was widespread

“We have no doubt that much more could have been done in Norway to save Jews,” write Tangestuen, Bruland and Berggren in the introduction of their “Report on a Review”. They neither deny the widespread anti-Semitism in the country nor the fact that the “home front” could possibly have been more active. But Michelet’s conclusions on prior knowledge of the deportation campaign and anti-Semitism as a decisive explanation for a lack of help had not been proven by her.

The accusation made by Marte Michelet in a TV interview that her critics wanted to “close the door that I opened again” and that “many researchers are more loyal to the members of the home front than the victims of the persecution of the Jews” can be said of these three Historians hardly do. But since Michelet also emphasizes that with her books she only wanted to achieve “that a broad research project is finally set in motion that investigates all open questions”, however, the question arises: Why is this happening in Norway 75 years after the end of the war actually still not?

.

Anti-Semitism: 7th place for the German cultural elite

by

Mith its annual list, the Simon Wiesenthal Center points out groups, institutions and people who are warming up old anti-Jewish resentments or creating new ones.

It will be remarkable, especially from a German point of view Seventh place. Not just any person or organization is put on the virtual dock, but the “German elite”, represented and embodied by the Goethe Institute, the Federal Cultural Foundation, the Berlin Festival, the German Theater, the Einstein Forum, the Humboldt Forum and a dozen other state-funded cultural institutions.

.

Racism in the corona crisis: scapegoats of the crisis (neue-deutschland.de)

by

The Amadeu Antonio Foundation is using posters to draw attention to the increase in anti-Asian racism in the corona crisis.

Photo: amadeu antonio foundation

For many, Berlin is a cosmopolitan, multicultural metropolis. This image is cultivated on city marketing posters. Diversity and tolerance are upheld here. Berlin is colorful. If you take a look behind the facade of advertising and feel-good rhetoric, this image begins to shake. Right-wing violence does not only take place in Saxony or Thuringia, but also in the middle of the capital.

“Berlin has the reputation of a cosmopolitan city and is rightly proud of it,” says Anetta Kahane, Chair of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation. However, many people are not aware of the reality of right-wing attacks, which are also part of everyday life in Berlin. As a result, the experiences of those affected are often hardly discussed in public. “To be a courageous urban society, however, means to empathize with those affected and their concerns and to meet the hatred with solidarity and sympathy,” says Kahane.

With the campaign “Berlin showsCURAge” the Amadeu Antonio Foundation wants to draw attention to the fact that many people in Berlin live with the threat of racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and other forms of hateful violence every day. In addition, donations are to be collected for the Cura victims’ fund for victims of right-wing violence. The campaign with poster motifs and social media campaigns is being carried out for the third time. While the focus last year was on anti-Semitic violence in view of the Halle attack, this year the focus is on anti-Asian violence.

According to the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, the situation has worsened in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. The general uncertainty led to a search for culprits, which stigmatized groups are particularly hard hit. According to the Berlin registry offices for right-wing violence, a phenomenon in times of the pandemic is discrimination against people who are perceived as Asian. In addition, there is an increased spread of anti-Semitic conspiracy ideologies. In particular, the numerous demonstrations against the corona measures would provide a forum for this.

“We have observed that digital violence has increased, as social life has shifted a lot into the digital space in the wake of the pandemic,” says Ibo Muthweiler from the Cura Victims Fund to “nd”. Stigmatized groups are increasingly exposed to shit storms and hatred online. Especially at the beginning of the pandemic, people who were perceived as Asian were increasingly affected: “People who read Asian were also discriminated before, now they are also held responsible for the pandemic and are exposed to racist violence online and offline,” says Muthweiler. According to the expert, right-wing violence is never directed against individuals, but always affects entire groups. In Berlin in particular, residents who are not affected must be made clear: “Not all people can move around equally safely in public.”

However, the seven-week campaign sponsored by the Senate Department for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-Discrimination is only one aspect. The main part of the work of the fund consists in providing financial support to those affected. “For many of those affected, attacks are associated with high costs, here we try to help unbureaucratically,” said Muthweiler. “If, for example, new glasses have to be financed due to an assault or a move becomes necessary, this can generate costs that are often overlooked when considering right-wing violence,” explains the expert. In addition to raising awareness of the topic, the campaign aims to collect donations for the work of the victims’ fund.

This is sorely needed, because right-wing attacks in Berlin were at a consistently high level even before the outbreak of the pandemic. Due to different categorization and registration, the registries record different numbers of attacks. Reach Out, the Berlin counseling center for victims of right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violence, recorded 390 attacks in 2019. The gay anti-violence project Maneo registered 559 acts of violence with a homophobic or trans * hostile background in the same period – a maximum. The Anti-Semitism Research and Information Center Berlin (RIAS) recorded a total of 881 anti-Semitic incidents in Berlin, including 33 attacks. For all phenomena, it should be remembered that not all those affected turn to the responsible authorities.

In order to better combat racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of group-related misanthropy, the Berlin public prosecutor set up the Central Office for Hate Crime in September. According to Ines Karl, head of the Berlin office, 2,410 cases of hate crime were registered in Berlin in 2019, most of them on the Internet. “But we are assuming a very strong dark field that we want to shed light on,” said the senior public prosecutor, who primarily wants to increase the number of convictions. Otherwise, the perpetrators would feel encouraged, continue and possibly increase the intensity. This cycle is to be broken in cooperation with civil society institutions such as the Amadeu Antonio Foundation.

.

Right-wing extremist attack on synagogue: maximum penalty for Halle attackers

by

The right-wing extremist who shot two people near the synagogue in Halle was sent to prison for life. The judge spoke of a “cowardly attack”.

The accused Stephan B. was sentenced to life imprisonment Photo: Ronny Hartmann / dpa

MAGDEBURG afp / dpa | In the trial of the right-wing attack on the synagogue in Halle an der Saale, the Naumburg Higher Regional Court imposed the maximum sentence. The defendant Stephan B. was sentenced to life imprisonment with subsequent preventive detention in Magdeburg on Monday. The verdict was issued, among other things, for double murder, multiple attempted murder and sedition. The court also determined the severity of the guilt, which makes early release after 15 years unlikely. An appeal can be lodged with the Federal Court of Justice against the judgment.

It was a “cowardly attack”, said the presiding judge Ursula Mertens at the verdict on Monday. The accused had relativized his actions and motives in many places. The man reacted to the verdict with a blank face and began to take notes.

On October 9, 2019, the 28-year-old German Stephan Balliet tried to storm the synagogue in Halle on the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, and cause a massacre. He threw incendiary devices and explosives and shot at the access door, but did not get on the premises. In front of the synagogue, he murdered 40-year-old passer-by Jana L. and in a nearby kebab shop, 20-year-old Kevin S.

On his escape, the man shot a policeman inside, drove the getaway car to a man and shot a man and a woman in a village near Halle after they refused to give him their car. In a workshop, the then 27-year-old blackmailed a taxi that the police were able to locate with the help of the taxi driver. The police then arrested him. The Saxon Anhalter confessed to the fact.

With the verdict, Mertens and the four other judges followed the demands of the federal prosecutor’s office and accessory prosecution. The trial is considered to be the largest criminal case in the history of Saxony-Anhalt. For security and space reasons, the OLG had moved the hearing to the largest courtroom in the country in Magdeburg.

On 25 trial days, the court questioned a total of 79 witnesses and 15 experts. 45 survivors and bereaved relatives had joined the accessory prosecution, they were represented by 23 lawyers. The survivors’ final lectures alone had lasted three days of the trial, and many had spoken at this or before on the witness stand. Almost all of them had reported serious psychological consequences of the crime.

.