Germany: Far-right murders in Dortmund
01 March 2005
Far-right skinheads have increasingly come under discussion in the mainstream media, since the government undertook legal action to ban the
National Sozialistische Partei Deutschlands (NPD). This unsuccesful court case exposed the involvement of security force informants on the NPD's executive, demonstrating the authorities' knowledge of the existence of an organised skinhead movement and its connections to NPD party structures. They would also have been aware of its violent attacks against black people, refugees and left-wing activists, (see Statewatch vol 14 no 5). And yet, despite two recent murders by neo-nazi skinheads in Dortmund, a council spokesman still maintained that "we do not have a far-right scene". Similarly, when one of the assailants appeared in court the prosecution claimed that the incident was "not politically motivated" despite the attacker provoking his victim with a Hitler salute.
The first incident occurred in a Dortmund underground station on 28 March and involved a 17-year old neo-nazi who, after an argument with the 32-year old punk Thomas S., stabbed his victim to death and ran away. The police arrested him shortly afterwards and he remains in custody. The local skinhead movement provided him with a lawyer and a demonstration in Dortmund attracted several thousand people (it was called by the local trade union
Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund and the charity
Diakonisches Werk). Less then three weeks later another death occurred in a small town near Dortmund. On 15 April, the 34-year old Christian W. approached a group of youths and gave the Hitler salute. When challenged by Arthur K., he pulled a knife and stabbed his victim 5 times, leaving Arthur to die of internal bleeding.
A statement issued after the first murder by 37 anti-fascist groups from the North-Rhine Westphalia region points out that "the Neo-Nazi scene in Dortmund has become increasingly active over the last few years and has been able to successfully recruit new members". The organisations they refer to are the
Kameradschaft Dortmund, the Autonome Nationalisten östliches Ruhrgebiet (Autonomous Nationalists eastern Ruhr Area) and the band Oidoxie. The Dortmund police estimate that the far-right movement includes 60-80 persons. Between 2003 and 2004 around 400 criminal acts were classified right-wing, four that occurred in 2004 involved bodily harm. A central figure in the far-right scene who was particularly active after the murders is Axel W. Reitz, who calls himself the
Gauleiter Rhineland of the Combat Alliance of German Socialists. He likes imitating Hitler and signed his name on posters threatening anti-fascists with death after the murder of Thomas. He also spoke at a rally organised by the far-right against the building of a mosque in Dortmund in autumn 2004. The
Komerradschaft Dortmund worked with the NPD in the regional election in May and the NPD is collaborating with members of the DVU (
Deutsche Volksunion) which has three seats on the local council. The DVU councillor Axel Thieme in turn will stand for the NPD in the regional elections.
Despite these links and the increase in far-right violence, the authorities are playing down and depoliticising the situation. The interior minister for North-Rhine Westphalia, Fritz Behrens, described the far-right in his region as a "toothless tiger". In a press conference after the second murder, public prosecutor Bernd Maas continued to emphasise that the incident was not politically motivated. A member of the local anti-fascist group from Hagen disagrees and said: "the murder can definitely be called politically motivated."
Jungle World 6 & 27.4.05