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Between 2000 and 2007, a racist criminal group called the National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed ten people in seven German towns. Nine of them were immigrants from Turkey and Greece, one was a police officer. Three of the murders took place in Nuremberg.
For a long time, the racist, xenophobic background of the murders was not recognized. Theories about a "Turkish Mafia", family feuds and business rivalries were circulated and the yellow press labeled the crimes with the derogatory term Dönermorde (Kebab Murders), insinuating the murders were an internal, Turkish affair. It took nationwide protests, personal protest notes by politicians and artists and a joint declaration of the seven cities affected to persuade federal law enforcement to investigate a hate-crime background.
In April 2012, the mayors of all seven towns announced joint efforts to install memorials for all victims. In addition to individual memorials at the locations of the murders, a joint memorial was placed close to the beginning of the Way of Human Rights in Nuremberg. |
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