On February 19, 2020, a 43-year-old shot nine people in Hanau for racist motives. This Sunday, Nancy Faeser and Boris Rhein are expected to attend a memorial service to mark the third anniversary in Hanau. Hundreds of participants came together for vigils on Saturday.
At a memorial service and other events this Sunday in Hanau, the nine victims of the racist attack three years ago will be remembered.
Under the motto “Against forgetting – for tolerance and human dignity”, relatives of the dead and Hanau’s Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky (SPD) want to speak to the participants on the market square. Numerous representatives from politics, religious communities and public life are expected to attend, including Nancy Faeser, who is running as the SPD top candidate in the Hessian state elections in October, and the Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU). A service in the Hanau Marienkirche, a rally and a demonstration are also planned.
On Sunday evening, the February 19th initiative, in which the bereaved and those affected had joined forces, invites you to commemorate the two crime scenes in Hanau city center and in the Kesselstadt district. Relatives had previously emphasized that those killed in the attack should not be forgotten.
On February 19, three years ago, a 43-year-old man shot nine people in Hanau for racist reasons. He then killed his mother and himself.
First commemorative events already on Saturday
Around 100 participants came together for a memorial event in Darmstadt on Saturday. In Frankfurt, around 150 people took part in a rally organized by the municipal representation of foreigners (KAV), including the Frankfurt mayoral candidates Mike Josef (SPD), Manuela Rottmann (Greens), Uwe Becker (CDU) and Yanki Pürsün (FDP ). According to the police, around 900 people were present at a demonstration that followed.
“Right-wing extremism greatest threat to democracy”
On the occasion of the anniversary, politicians and experts called for a clear stand against racism and right-wing extremism. February 19, 2020 will remain a deep turning point, said Federal Interior Minister Faeser this week.
The public focus has changed as a result of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and Germany must protect itself from new threats, according to Faeser. However, it should not be forgotten that right-wing extremism continues to be “the greatest extremist threat to our democracy”.
The President of the Hessian State Parliament, Astrid Wallmann (CDU), called for the commemoration of the victims to be taken as an opportunity to “confront xenophobia even more decisively”. That is the task and obligation of all state power, but also of all citizens.
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Ferta Ataman, sharply criticized the treatment of people affected by racism in Germany. This is also shown “when federal politicians talk disparagingly about Muslim young people as “little pashas”, she said, referring to controversial statements by CDU chairman Friedrich Merz.
Number of racist incidents increased
According to experts, the number of people seeking advice after racist incidents has increased noticeably nationwide and in Hesse over the past two to three years.
This should also be due to the fact that such incidents are now seen and named more clearly, said Reiner Becker, head of the Hesse Democracy Center at the Philipps University in Marburg, the dpa news agency.
For him, this is also related to the processing and debate about acts like the one in Hanau. “These murders are based on attitudes and prejudices that are widespread and not abstract,” explained Becker. The work of initiatives in Hanau and nationwide is all the more important to draw attention to the topic.
hessenschau update – the newsletter for Hesse
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