A year ago today, a right-wing extremist killed nine people in an attack in Hanau.
The anniversary was celebrated with a memorial ceremony and nationwide demos.
Hanau - On the anniversary of the racist attack with nine dead in Hanau, a commemoration ceremony for the victims took place in the city on Friday evening.
Among other things, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave a speech there.
The Mayor of Hanau, Claus Kaminsky (SPD), called for a full explanation of the attack on Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg: "It is our damned duty to convey everything this state knows to the relatives".
For the bereaved, education is the only way to deal with the tragic incident.
These still suffered today.
"For them it is still a horror that will never end," said Kaminsky.
On February 19, 2020, a 43-year-old German deliberately killed nine people with foreign roots in two bars in Hanau.
He then killed his mother and himself. The Federal Prosecutor attested the perpetrator to be deeply racist.
For the first anniversary, a memorial service is planned in Hanau in the evening with the bereaved, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Hesse's Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) and Kaminsky.
By order of the Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU), the flags were waved at half-mast on all public buildings and offices in the state, as well as at Steinmeier's official seats in Berlin and Bonn.
For the anniversary, the Green politician Cem Özdemir called for tougher action by the security authorities against right-wing extremism.
"The police and the protection of the constitution must have zero tolerance against right-wing terrorism," he told the portal "Watson".
For Greens leader Robert Habeck, racism is a structural problem *.
The reactions to the attack should go beyond sheer consolation, he said on Norddeutscher Rundfunk.
Hanau anniversary: Politicians and the Protestant Church call for measures against racism
SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans called for civil courage.
"We have to ensure that the brutal act of a right-wing extremist * is remembered as a warning to all of us," he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz remembered the victims.
"The murderer didn't know your stories," he explained.
The assassin "did not see the citizens of our midst".
“He only saw 'the foreigners'.
The attack in Hanau also called for action a year later, said Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) via a spokesman.
"All people in Germany today must be able to live safely - we stand up to those who spread the poison of right-wing extremism, racism and anti-Semitism and who fight our free way of life."
The FDP interior expert Benjamin Strasser criticized that breakdowns by the authorities only came to light through media research.
"This creates distrust among those affected as to whether errors are really resolutely pursued and corrected." The complaints of the bereaved about the fact that the investigation is not being carried out with more transparency are justified.
“Chancellor Angela Merkel had already reminded of the anniversary and the victims in advance.
The Evangelical Church in Germany remembered the suffering of the victims and the bereaved.
"We have almost forgotten what happened back then," said Council Chairman Heinrich Bedford-Strohm.
In Germany there is open and hidden racism.
"Everyone should check themselves for it."
One year after the Hanau attack
The Central Council of Muslims (ZMD) still sees the protective measures as inadequate.
They have been increased selectively, but they are not yet sufficient, said ZMD President Aiman Mazyek of the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
.
For example, many emergency calls were made on the night of the crime that were not answered by the police.
After the crime, survivors mainly criticized the police and their organization.
Emergency calls at the time of the crime were ineffective.
In addition, the perpetrator, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2002, legally had multiple weapons.
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.
