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Mevlüde Genç at a memorial event in Solingen in May 2018
Photo: Marius Becker / dpa
She was considered a role model for peaceful, tolerant coexistence - because she was a woman who approached other people even in an unimaginably painful moment in her life.
Mevlüde Genç has now died, as the North Rhine-Westphalia State Chancellery announced on Sunday.
Genc was 79 years old.
Mevlüde Genç and her husband lost two daughters, two grandchildren and a niece in May 1993 after right-wing extremists threw incendiary devices into their house in Solingen.
A total of 17 family members were seriously injured.
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Mevlüde Genç, however, called for reconciliation shortly after the attack.
She and her husband stayed in Solingen and took German citizenship in 1995.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) praised Genç as "a great example of reconciliation".
Like few others, she embodied the belief in the good in people.
»She knew how to transform the immeasurable pain that was inflicted on her into strength to stand up for other people.
She returned the hate, violence and resentment she was met with as generosity and tolerance,” said Wüst.
Mevlüde Genç "opposed hate and violence with forgiveness and love," said state parliament president André Kuper (CDU).
The greatness with which she turned pain and grief into forgiveness remains - even after her death.
He announced that the regional parliament would commemorate Genç with a minute's silence on Wednesday.
The NRW Integration Minister Josefine Paul (Greens) also commemorated Genç: »All her life, Mevlüde Genç called for tolerance and peaceful coexistence between cultures.
For that, I owe her thanks and those of our entire society.«
The attack in May 1993 is considered one of the most momentous racist acts in the history of the Federal Republic.
The 160,000-inhabitant city of Solingen suddenly became a memorial for racist violence.
The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court imposed high penalties on the murderers: three of the right-wing extremist arsonists received ten years in prison, and a 25-year-old received 15 years in prison.
The penalties have now been served.
Since the attack, there has been a vacant lot at the crime scene.
The survivors of the Genç family wished that trees would be planted there - one for each victim.
The five chestnut trees now occupy the entire property.
For her tireless commitment to reconciliation shortly after the assassination, Genç received the Federal Cross of Merit.
The NRW state government donated a Mevlüde Genç medal in her honor in 2018.
It is awarded annually around the anniversary of the arson attack in Solingen on May 29th to people who have made outstanding contributions to reconciliation, tolerance and solidarity.
nile/dpa