30th anniversary of Rostock-Lichtenhagen: Roth wants to “keep memories alive”

30 years after the riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, the Greens believe the danger from the right has not been averted. Minister of State for Culture Roth called for the memory to be kept alive. To this day, too little attention is paid to the suffering of the victims.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the racist riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth called for a lively culture of remembrance. “The racist riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen triggered a whole chain of xenophobic violent excesses in the reunified Federal Republic,” said the Greens politician.

“We must and should keep alive the memory of this dark chapter of the German present,” said Roth. This included places of remembrance as well as scientific institutions for the documentation and processing of right-wing terrorism.

Roth also called for more visibility of social diversity in the media and up-to-date educational opportunities on the topics of racism and right-wing extremism. She criticized that the suffering of the victims and survivors of right-wing extremist terror still receives too little public attention. “We have to change that.”

acting against the right

The leaders of the Greens in the Bundestag, Katharina Dröge and Britta Haßelmann, explained that right-wing extremist forces are still fueling a climate of brutalization and devaluation of people. They went on to say: “Not only is the blind rampage of the neo-Nazis and rioters stunned to this day, but also the fact that these attacks and riots were cheered on by thousands of onlookers and the state was unable to end them for days.”

At the same time, they reminded of other right-wing acts of violence since German unification, including the attacks in Mölln, Solingen, Hoyerswerda, Halle and Hanau and the murders of the so-called NSU. “We have to stand united against this climate in order to prevent acts of violence and escalations and ultimately to preserve our democratic and diverse coexistence, our democracy and freedom.” The traffic light coalition also wants to close gaps in compensation and help for victims.

Four days of riots

From August 22 to 26, 1992, right-wing extremists and onlookers kept gathering at the so-called sunflower house in the Rostock district of Lichtenhagen, which housed the central reception center for asylum seekers and Vietnamese contract workers. Stones and incendiary devices were thrown, racist slogans were shouted, and the fire brigade was obstructed. The police failed to stop the riots.