Berlin, February 19. German institutions and civil society today remember the nine victims of the attack in Hanau (south) three years after the far-right attack and while their relatives denounced the inaction of the authorities.
“Racism led the perpetrator to kill nine people in Hanau in 2020. I am convinced that we can only strengthen the cohesion of our society by making the memory of the victims visible,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on his twitter account.
“Nothing threatens peaceful coexistence in our society so much as right-wing extremism,” the Interior Ministry posted on that same social network and added that for this reason the fight against the ultra-right was “ a top priority “for Minister Nancy Faeser”.
In the city of Hanau, a series of religious ceremonies were added to a commemorative event in the city’s central square, which, together with Faeser, attended by Mayor Claus Kaminsky and the Premier of the Hesse region, Boris Rhein.
However, three years after Tobias Rathjen, a 43-year-old man of xenophobic ideology and who suffered from psychiatric disorders, murdered nine people of foreign origin and his own mother, only to commit suicide later, the relatives of the victims declare themselves “disappointed”. ” with the response of the authorities.
In recent days, various relatives have denounced in media interviews that despite the slogans little has changed in the past three years and in particular that they feel unprotected by the attitude of the father of the author of the attack.
Rathjen’s father has allegedly harassed some of his relatives in their homes and at his children’s schools in recent years, and they say they suspect he may even have been an intellectual accomplice in the attack, as he shares apparently the son’s conspiracy theories and racist ideology.
Despite failing to comply with restraining orders on at least 27 occasions, as confirmed by the Hanau prosecutor’s office, the 75-year-old maintained his conduct and came to uttering threats, reason for which his relatives demand more determined action. from the authorities.
In addition, they point out that three years after the attack, many questions remain to be clarified, such as the slow response of the police and emergency services from the moment when Rathjen – who had a good weapons license that he suffered from schizophrenia and had declared far-right ideas – began to spin that day.
For all these reasons, relatives called through the “February 19 Initiative” for this Sunday a protest demonstration and commemorative vigils throughout the country, because, as they pointed out in a press release, “the memory involves change”. EFE
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