The city of Erlangen established this memorial, which consists of eleven newly planted trees. The number eleven represents ten trees for the ten victims of the NSU; we dedicate the one remaining tree to all named and unnamed victims of racist violence. Between 2000 and 2007, nine people with immigrant backgrounds and one policewoman were murdered by the NSU.
The memorial site is located on Paul-Gordan-Strasse in the Röthelheimpark neighborhood. The memorial site is currently undergoing renovation.
The eleven planted trees visually illustrate the scale of this crime. At the same time, the memorial site is intended to send a strong signal of resistance against right-wing extremist terror. The city of Erlangen is thus following the example of other cities in Germany that are commemorating the victims through this initiative.
The names of the victims are:
Enver Şimşek
Abdurrahim Özüdoğru
Ismail Yaşar
Süleyman Taşköprü
Habil Kılıç
Mehmet Turgut
Theodoros Boulgarides
Mehmet Kubaşik
Halit Yozgat
Michèle Kiesewetter
The murders committed by the far-right terrorist cell NSU were not met with a thorough investigation. Instead, the victims’ families were treated as suspects. The police investigated the relatives of those murdered, and the media mocked the victims by labeling the crimes “kebab murders.” The investigation into the NSU crimes also left many questions unanswered regarding the background and the role of far-right networks and their masterminds. In the summer of 2018, the verdict was finally handed down in the NSU trial, a verdict that is unsatisfactory for both the victims and their surviving relatives as well as for the democratically minded population.
A look back at societal developments over the past decades points to circumstances that have fostered the spread of racism. This is particularly evident with regard to the issue of migration. The political discourse in the post-reunification era was dominated by an almost hysterical debate over refugees and immigration and was accompanied by a wave of racist violence in German cities such as Hoyerswerda, Rostock, Mölln, and Solingen.
The danger posed by racist ideologies and far-right terrorism has become increasingly apparent—and not just since the anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Halle an der Saale, the murder of Kassel District President Lübcke, and the far-right murder of nine migrant women in Hanau. Inhuman hate speech is spreading via the internet, and death threats are being made against activists, politicians, and lawyers representing victims. Time and again, evidence of far-right extremist ties within state institutions such as the police and the Bundeswehr comes to light.
The City of Erlangen takes a clear stand against the danger of right-wing terrorism and resolutely opposes this development.
Source: Press release from the North Rhine-Westphalia State Integration Council regarding the “10+1” campaign
Trees for the Victims of the NSU