Germany to mark 30th anniversary of neo-Nazi attack in Molln

BERLIN

Germany will mark on Wednesday the 30th anniversary of a neo-Nazi attack that claimed three lives and injured nine others in the northern town of Molln near Hamburg.

On Nov. 23 in 1992, Turkish citizens Bahide Arslan and her two granddaughters Yeliz Arslan and Ayse Yilmaz died after firebombs were thrown into their house by neo-Nazis. Nine others were injured in the attack.

Ibrahim Arslan, who survived the attack, but lost his grandmother and sister, told Anadolu Agency that they regret that people with immigrant background still face racism and verbal and physical attacks in Germany.

“Racist attacks continue against people seen as foreigners, people like us in this country. We will continue our efforts, continue to organize events to fight racism,” he said.

Arslan criticized politicians for not taking the threat seriously, and not doing enough against growing racism and right-wing extremism.

“State institutions are not providing any support to us in any way. We are doing these efforts by ourselves, together with people with common sense,” he said.

Arslan underlined that they will continue their efforts to raise awareness in the society about racism and discrimination, by explaining their views, telling the stories of the victims of far-right terror in Germany.

Only by a social change we can ensure that such incidents would not happen again, he added.

Namik Arslan, who was only 8 months old when neo-Nazis attacked their home, survived after being thrown out of a window to family members waiting below.

He said the succession of anniversaries over the past three decades have done little to dull the pain for his family.

Arslan called on people to attend the commemorations in Molln on Wednesday to remember the victims of the neo-Nazi attack, to show solidarity with the family members.

The attack in Molln was the first deadly arson attack targeting immigrants in Germany, and it was followed by dozens of similar attacks in the 1990s.

Far-right terror in Germany has claimed the lives of at least 218 innocent people since 1989, according to the Amadeu Antonio Foundation.

Human rights groups have long criticized authorities for underestimating the threat and not seriously investigating crimes committed by neo-Nazis.