On November 4, 2011 two men robbed a bank in Eisenach, Germany. When the recreational vehicle in which they hid in the immediate aftermath was surrounded by police, they set fire to the vehicle and shot themselves. Simultaneously, a woman in Zwickau set her apartment on fire before turning herself in to the police.

The details about that day’s events and the cascade of connections that followed are harrowing. The men, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, and woman, Beate Zschäpe, constituted a trio of committed neo-Nazi terrorists that had been underground for 13 years. Wanted for depositing several dummy bombs in public places as well as possessing four live bombs in 1998, the three went underground and formed what has come to be known as the National Socialist Underground (NSU). Throughout its 13 year history this group has most likely been responsible for the shooting of nine migrants of Turkish and Greek descent, the shooting of two police officers, one of which lived, the bombing of a busy street in Cologne in a district primarily inhabited by immigrants, and fourteen bank robberies. (1)

In the month since November 5th, several suspected above-ground helpers of the group have been arrested, detained, or investigated. (2) German antifascists have reacted by staging demonstrations and direct actions throughout the country calling to actively fight and defeat all neo-Nazi structures. (3)

Rose City Antifa believes that the despicable actions of the NSU sadly prove, once again, the capacity of small dedicated groups of neo-Nazis to inflict terror and violence against people despite their relative failure to gain large-scale support. Our solidarity goes out to the families of the victims of the NSU as well as German antifascists confronting the structures of the far-Right.

(1) See: Neo-Nazis Suspected in Long Wave of Crimes, Including Murders, in Germany_
(2) See: New Suspect Arrested in Neo-Nazi Investigation
(3) See: Aufruf: Jetzt auf die Straße gehen! (Translated using translate.google.com)
 


Comments


Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply