Main focus of Friday, February 24, 2012

Germany mourns neo-Nazi victims

Merkel warns against indifference to racism. (© dapd)

Germany held a commemoration service on Thursday for the victims of the Zwickau neo-Nazi cell, which was able to carry out a series of murders over the years undetected. The shame this has brought on the Germans and their prejudices is considerable, commentators write, and call for more decisive action against right-wing extremists.

Bild - Germany

Germans must continue to feel deeply ashamed even now that the commemorative service in Berlin for the victims of neo-Nazi terror is over, writes the tabloid Bild: "We preach to the whole world: respect human dignity! We demand of the Muslims: protect the Christians! Our message: all people are equal before the law - and the investigative authorities. But we have failed ignominiously! Even in democracies the spectre of racial fanaticism and xenophobia lurks in many minds. Things start with narrow-minded prejudice and end with tenfold murder. Yesterday was the day of mourning. Today the message is: what we demand of others must hold for ourselves as well. We must wage battle every day against prejudices fed by stupidity, thoughtlessness and spite. Semiya Simsek, the daughter of one of the murder victims, spoke for all of Germany: in this battle 'everyone is called on to act. All of us, together. Only that can be the solution'." (24/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Germany
All available articles from » Ernst Elitz

Corriere della Sera - Italy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that deeds must follow words at the commemoration ceremony for the victims of right-wing extremism in Berlin. The liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera agrees: "The ceremony must usher in change. Nothing should be left as it was. Right-wing extremism must be combated far more effectively than so far. Parallel to the ban proceedings against the far right NPD, neo-Nazi propaganda at all levels must be stopped. The fight to prevent a resurgence of racism in a society as modern and integrated as Germany's must go right to the grass roots. It is right to point out to the millions of citizens of foreign origin their duties, but their rights must not be neglected." (24/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Gender equality, » Crime, » Germany
All available articles from » Paolo Lepri

taz - Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel may have hit the right note at the state ceremony for the victims of right-wing extremism but that is no substitute for an explanation as to why the authorities failed so miserably: "This commemorative service was different because Ismail Yozgat, the father of one of the victims, made a speech. … People like Ismail Yozgat are invisible in our society. They don't make speeches at receptions, they don't appear on talk shows. … Angela Merkel shifted the focus to the double suffering of the families of the victims. … None of this was wrong, but it's too little. Because this series of murders exposes much more than Mölln or Solingen [arson attacks by right-wing extremists against foreigners in 1992 and 1993] a failure of the state. It is a disastrous failure of the police and above all the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which hindered rather than aided the investigations. To promise better coordination among the authorities, as Merkel has done, is too little. Why did the investigators look everywhere but in the neo-Nazi milieu? Why was the neo-Nazi trio able to go underground? The answers are not yet forthcoming. We owe them to the victims." (24/02/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Justice, » Germany
All available articles from » Stefan Reinecke

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