Every year, the Johanniter and Malteser go out on hundreds of thousands of rescue missions. In the "taz", however, serious allegations of racism are now being raised against the aid organizations in North Rhine-Westphalia. Among other things, people are said to have been treated worse because of their origin.
According to a report by "taz", the aid organizations Malteser and Johanniter in North Rhine-Westphalia sometimes have a racism problem. Accordingly, the birthdays of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi greats were entered in a wall calendar at the Johanniter in Cologne and a racist game was played. Rescue workers were also noticed there as Reich citizens and because of their proximity to the right-wing extremist Identitarian movement. At a Malteser rescue station in North Rhine-Westphalia, an employee is said to have said before an operation that he would rather set the refugee home on fire than help the refugees. At this station, employees exchanged racist and sexist memes in a chat group, the "taz" reported.
The Malteser are a Catholic charity and the Johanniter a Protestant charity. Both go out on hundreds of thousands of rescue missions every year. The organizations promised a full investigation into the allegations. At the same time, they objected to a blanket condemnation.
According to the information, rescue workers from both rescue stations reported cases in which patients had been treated worse for racist reasons. The rescue workers who were noticed in Cologne in connection with the right-wing extremist and racist incidents still work, at least in part, for the Johanniter Unfallhilfe. The employee who addressed the incidents internally in 2020, largely unsuccessfully, received the dismissal, writes the "taz".
A spokeswoman for Johanniter announced that the allegations made by the former employee had already been extensively investigated in 2020, but no evidence had been found. The allegations will now be investigated again. "We also regret that the then regional board did not inform our partners in the professional fire brigade and in the city of Cologne at an early stage," said the spokeswoman. Racist ideas deeply contradict the attitude of the Christian relief organization. "At the same time, we are against a blanket condemnation of our employees and the entire rescue service." An overwhelming proportion of them provide impeccable, dedicated and professional service to others.
A spokesman for the Malteser said they had not previously been aware of the allegations. An internal review has now been initiated. Right-wing extremist and racist behavior is clearly condemned by the Maltese. "So far, we have not been aware of any reports of right-wing extremist incidents in the rescue service. We are therefore opposed to blanket accusations of racist behavior by rescue workers, as suggested in the article." From now on, the subject of racism should be dealt with even more intensively in the mandatory training courses for employees.
