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CURA has helped in these cases

Mr. K in Berlin

Mr. K is politically active in Berlin and has a Turkish migration background. Following continuous hostilities and threats from right-wing extremist circles, one night his car was finally set on fire. The fire threatened to spread to the adjacent house belonging to the person in question. In order to prevent even worse attacks on him and his family, the CURA Victim’s Fund supported Mr. K. in installing a security system in his house.

Mr. M in Berlin

When Mr. M. was on the Berlin underground with a friend one evening, the two of them were suddenly mobbed and racially abused by a group of young men. When the two people got out, they were followed by the group. Two of the pursuers begin to beat the 25-year-old Mr. M; they finally pulled out a knife, rammed it into his stomach and kicked him onto the tracks. Luckily, his friend was able to save him from the tracks before the next train arrived. Even so, he still only survived the attack with serious injuries, while the perpetrators were able to flee. As Mr. M., due to his status as an asylum seeker, was not really entitled to adequate psychological support he was helped by the CURA Victims’ Fund.

The L family in North Rhine-Westphalia

For several years, the L family had been regularly subjected to racist abuse and terror by a well-known Nazi activist in the neighbourhood. This mostly involve vulgarity and verbal threats, with these always being directed towards their kindergarten-age daughter. In the autumn of 2009, the family's car was badly damaged; the tyres were punctured, the windscreen smashed and the paintwork scratched. That night, a neighbour watched the neo-Nazi damaging another car in the same way – so it was obvious that he was also behind the damage to the L family’s car. However, the police remained largely inactive. Several times the neo-Nazi appeared alone or accompanied by other neo-Nazis in front of the house of the L family and loudly asked them to come out. The young daughter suffered more and more from the threats and started to display massive anxiety disorders, such as bed-wetting, nightmares and panic attacks. That the family would have to move home to solve the threatening situation became inevitable. The CURA Victims' Fund therefore supported the L family in their move.

'AufAndHalt' victim advice centre in Thuringia

The completely voluntary 'AufAndHalt' association serves as a contact point for victims of right-wing violence and racist discrimination in Thuringia. Following discriminatory or even violent incidents, 'AufAndHalt' provides direct and unbureaucratic assistance, for example in the form of free counselling for victims and escorting them to authorities, courts or doctors. In the experience of the association, those affected should also generally be encouraged to seek civil society and/or state assistance after attacks as a good many victims shy away from doing so for fear of reprisals. The association also helps asylum seekers in particular, as they very often experience racial discrimination and violence and are particularly defenceless in the face of this. The CURA Victims' Fund supports 'AufAndHalt' with regular six-monthly grants so that the association can maintain its counselling and support activities and to further strengthen the victim counselling situation in a particularly difficult area.

The 'Anti-Castor-Camp Dahlem Dumstorf’ initiative

In the course of the protests against the Castor transports, the 'Anti-Castor-Camp Dahlem Dumstorf' initiative erected a vigil and information tent. One day later, the activists found the tent destroyed. The interior was a mess and the tent’s tarpaulins had been cut and smeared. Among other things, there were swastikas and lettering such as “NPD” and “Dahlenburger Jungs”. In the course of the day, groups of 15-20 youths appeared, obviously enjoying the destruction and mobbing against the demonstrators, whom they call “ticks”. The situation was only defused once the police had issued a reprimand. Later, the activists learned that local youths had put out a call on Facebook to “rough up hippies” and had arranged to meet. The CURA Victims' Fund supported the initiative with the repair and replacement costs incurred by the right-wing extremist destruction.

The W family in Mecklenburg Vorpommern

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Mr. W had been actively involved in the democratic culture for some time. As a DJ, he has contact with numerous young people. Together with them, he was organising a festival intended to send out clear signals against right-wing extremism, and for tolerance. This was the first time he was targeted by neo-Nazis. One day before the festival, the venue was sprayed with Nazi slogans and visitors were threatened during the concert. As a volunteer, Mr. W helped to hang up campaign posters for the SPD. During this activity he was insulted and photographed as a “dirty red sow”. Two days later, Mr. W found his car, which he urgently needed to earn his living, damaged to the point of being unfit to drive. In addition, his neighbour's house was also attacked, which was probably simply a case of mistaken identity on the part of the perpetrators. The attackers “corrected” this with another attack a short time later, when they smashed the window of the children's room with a stone about the size of a fist. As part of a fundraising campaign, the W family was also visited by state prime minister, Erwin Sellering. The CURA Victims' Fund supported the W family in repairing the damage to property.

The N family in Berlin

In Berlin, Mr. N, a snack bar owner of Vietnamese origin, was smashed in the face with a wooden slat during an attack by young neo-Nazis and the snack bar was destroyed. Since the attack, Mr. N has been suffering from severe pain, insomnia and anxiety. In addition, the family's financial situation became extremely precarious, as the destroyed snack bar business was the family's livelihood and Mr. N was unable to provide for his family during his long stay in hospital. The CURA Victims’ Fund supported Mr. N and his family in renting a new snack van.

Mr. W in Brandenburg

As Mr. W was sitting in a town in Brandenburg with two other punks and talking to them, two young men from the right-wing scene suddenly came up to them and insulted them. Mr. W was then brutally beaten up and Mr. W's mobile phone was also destroyed. In order to counteract the anxiety that has repeatedly afflicted the victim since the attack, the CURA Victims' Fund now finances a new pay-as-you-go mobile phone for Mr. W so that he might quickly and easily call for help in the event of another attack.

Mr. B in Saxony

Mr. B, a student from Morocco at the Technical University of Dresden, was the victim of a violent assault. When he rushed to the aid of a Senegalese friend after he had been harassed and racially abused by five men, he was injured by being punched to the face. As a result, he was incapable of working for some time. The psychological consequences, such as sleep disorders and anxiety, also prevented a return to normality. Since he has to pay for his living and studying expenses himself, he entered into financial difficulties due to his temporary inability to work. Mr. B received emergency financial aid from the CURA Victims’ Fund to help him overcome his situation.

The N family in Thuringia

In 1980, Mr. N moved to the GDR from Mozambique as a contract worker. Since then, he has lived in Thuringia. He was brutally beaten up outside his apartment by three right-wing extremist youths brandishing an iron bar and a beer bottle. Mr. N suffered burns and abrasions as well as broken ribs, a fracture of the jaw and severe damage to his teeth. In addition to the serious physical injuries, he was subjected to severe psychological stress as a result of the attack in his immediate living environment. As he lost his job due to the physical and psychological consequences, this situation also caused massive financial problems for Mr. N and his family. The CURA Victims' Fund supported N family in their financial emergency.

Mr. E in Brandenburg

Mr. E, an asylum seeker from Cameroon, was molested and threatened by four to five male youths on his way home. He tried to call the police from a nearby phone booth but the young people followed him, tore open the door of the phone booth, punched him in the face and yelled at him, "Nigger, watch what you're doing or you're dead!” Mr. E finally managed to escape. Over time, it has proven to be beneficial to finance a German language course for asylum seekers who have been victims of racist attacks in order to make it easier for them to establish social contacts and to stabilise them psycho-socially, the CURA Victims' Fund also covered the costs of such a course in this case.

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