On November 23, 1992, neo-Nazis throw two incendiary devices into a house in Mölln where people of Turkish origin live - three people die. 30 years later, state and federal politicians commemorate the victims. Dealing with the bereaved should be different in the future.
30 years after the racist arson attack in Mölln in which three people died, the events of that time were remembered in Schleswig-Holstein. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser also spoke out and called for tough action against "racist hate speech and violence". "The action of the right-wing extremists in Mölln did not come out of nowhere, the agitation against people of other origins prepared the ground for it," wrote Faeser. The three victims killed "won't be forgotten," she added. "Resolute" action must be taken against racist hate speech.
On the night of November 23, 1992, young neo-Nazis threw incendiary devices into two residential buildings in Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, in which people of Turkish origin lived. Three people died, including two young girls. Nine other people were injured. The crime caused great shock. It was part of a wave of racist attacks and riots after reunification. The debate in Germany at the time was dominated by arguments about asylum policy and the influx of civil war refugees from Yugoslavia, which was just breaking up. A few months before the crime in Mölln, there was a xenophobic pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, and a few months later five people of Turkish origin died in a right-wing extremist arson attack in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia.
As part of a commemoration event in Mölln, an interreligious service and a wreath-laying ceremony took place at the sites of the attacks. Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth called for an intensified fight against right-wing extremism and misanthropy. At the same time, she called for a different form of commemoration of right-wing extremist attacks in order to raise awareness of the suffering of the victims and those affected. "It must not be that relatives and victims first have to fight to remember and not to forget," added the Greens politician.
Faruk Arslan, the surviving relative, recalled that the way politicians dealt with the grief of the relatives and victims had been criticized from the start. "We wanted to raise our voices with them, not against them." It's not just about coming to terms with what happened and involving the victims' families, said survivor Ibrahim Arslan. When it comes to education in schools, the perspective of those affected must be given priority. Schleswig-Holstein's Minister of Social Affairs, Aminata Touré, also emphasized the importance of the victim's perspective in education. This is also part of the state action plan against racism, she said.
