Five Years After Hanau Attack, Germany Remembers Victims and Vows to Fight Extremism
Five years after the racist attack in Hanau, Germany, the families and friends of the victims gathered with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and representatives from the state of Hesse and the city of Hanau to commemorate the nine lives lost.
During a memorial service attended by around 400 invited guests, Steinmeier and survivors called for social cohesion and the eradication of racism and extremism.
Steinmeier described the attack as "an attack on our open society and our liberal democracy," equating it to the "presumably Islamist-motivated attacks of recent months."
He urged for decisive action against racism, right-wing extremism, Islamism, and "every other form of misanthropy." Steinmeier emphasized the shared responsibility of ensuring peaceful coexistence, stating, "It’s up to us to foster a harmonious society, every day and anew. That’s the message we should send from Hanau to our country today."
On February 19, 2020, a German perpetrator shot and killed nine young people in Hanau due to racist motives. He then murdered his mother and committed suicide.
Steinmeier stressed that the Hanau killings "did not happen out of the blue." He cited the proliferation of hate speech, particularly online and on social media, as a contributing factor, aiming to poison the social climate and deepen the divide between native Germans and those with immigrant backgrounds.
Four survivors also addressed the memorial service, echoing the need to combat racism and misanthropy. However, they also demanded a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the attack and accountability for those responsible.
Emis Gürbüz, the mother of victim Sedat Gürbüz, spoke immediately after Steinmeier. She labeled the incident "a dark stain in the history of Hanau and Germany" and assigned blame to the city of Hanau. Gürbüz cited letters sent by the perpetrator prior to the attack and the blocked emergency exit at a bar that became a crime scene on February 19, 2020.
She declined to accept the apology issued by the new Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) regarding police errors on the night of the attack. "There should have been no errors, omissions, or negligence. I accept no excuses," Gürbüz declared. Poseck was not Interior Minister at the time of the incident.
Gürbüz also rejected the recent compromise reached between most of the victims’ families and the city of Hanau regarding the location of a memorial at a square in front of the planned House for Democracy and Diversity in Hanau. "I don’t want my son’s name to appear on it," she stated, reiterating her preference for the market square as the more appropriate site. A similar sentiment was previously expressed by Armin Kurtovic, father of victim Hamza Kurtovic, who did not attend the official commemoration.
Hanau Mayor Claus Kaminsky (SPD) acknowledged the attack’s lingering impact on the city, describing it as a wound that scars but does not fully heal. He did not directly address Gürbüz’s accusations in his speech. "We are aware of the dissenting voices, and our hand remains extended," he said, referring to the dispute over the memorial’s location.
Hesse Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) emphasized the collective responsibility to ensure that hatred and incitement do not divide society unchecked. "Hatred is a real danger. And unfortunately, today – five years later – we have to honestly say: it remains so. It has even become a political business model," Rhein stated.
