Learning from the past
Members of social minorities are often affected by extreme right-wing violence. Networking between and solidarity with those affected is therefore essential. In 2012, the Köfte Kosher project was launched in the Bremen district of Huchting. Jewish and Muslim youth shared their experiences of discrimination, acquired knowledge about various forms of group-focused enmity, and created a memorial plaque for victims of right-wing violence. In 2018 this place was further developed. Eighteen students spent six months studying the biographies of victims of right-wing violence and then creating biography drafts. The result is a public commemorative pavilion with portraits of twelve people. They were killed for their religion, skin color, sexual orientation, disability, or homelessness. They are representative of all victims of right-wing violence in Germany and a public reminder of the danger of right-wing ideology.
On the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the pogrom in Hoyerswerda in 1991, the online platform "Hoyerswerda - since 1991" was launched on 17 September 2017. Since then, the web documentation has provided a variety of perspectives on the causes, processes, and consequences of days-long attacks on migrants in 1991 in Hoyerswerda (Saxony). After the expulsion of migrants from Hoyerswerda, the violence of the neo-Nazis was directed against all those who did not fit into their worldview – including alternative youth and cultural workers. Soon there was the first death. Even many years later, right-wing violence remained a problem in the city. However, there were and are also people who publicly stand behind the victims. The web documentation also shows how a city can counteract right-wing extremism and lets migrants and victims speak for themselves.
Between 1999 and 2011, the National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed at least ten people. However, the NSU was not just the "terror trio". There was a broad network of supporters, including informants of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Relatives of the victims, therefore, demand information about the state tolerance of right-wing terrorism. Recalling the victims of the NSU means demanding information and clarification. In the project "History Reclaimed" young people do just that: question, learn, exchange, pass on: The development of a critical city tour app on the NSU terror, allows young people to gather their knowledge about right-wing violence in their neighborhood and to pass it on to others. Together with young people critical walks concerning the NSU were developed in seven cities across Germany.
