As the organizers wrote, “Commemoration is a collective act in which we never forget, in which we strengthen each other, make resistance struggles visible and from which we draw strength for future struggles.”

Below is the speech IWS gave during the demo.

Today we are here to remember the 9 people that were killed one year ago in Hanau. We also need to remember the victims of the NSU, Oury Jalloh, who was killed in the custody of police, and Rita Awour Ojunge, killed by the german asylum system, and many other unsolved cases because they show us that the german system was built on racism and it continues to exist through racism.

We must never forget that it is ONE RACIST SYSTEM!

It is the same system that covers up the states involvement in the NSU murders –

It is the same system that ordered to shut the emergency exit of the arena Bar – the place where the victims were killed- because they didn’t want people to be able to escape their regular police controls

It is the same system that after an unspoken media campaign of criminalizing and portraying non-white people, migrants and refugees -especially men- as aggressors and a threat to the white german state – exactly are the ones who were killed one year ago

Bundesregierung now wants to express their condolences when they repeatedly openly stigmatize and criminalize Shisha Bars to the point that they became a symbol to be attacked? That resulted in the death/killing of 9 people? NOW they want to show empathy?

After the NSU-Murders, after the Murder of Oury Jalloh, of Rita Awuor Ojunge, and the murders in Hanau, the racist police controls are ongoing, the racist attacks are ongoing, the racist deportations are ongoing.

All this is a symptom of a racist society. After every attack, after every killing, we are told that is an individual, a psychologically unstable guy, a victim of his circumstances. We tell you it is not one crazy guy, how come we ALL meet this same crazy guy over and over again:
in the police
in the Ausländerbehörde
on the U-bahn
on the Street
at the Amt
in the Schools.
at the Kiosk
at a flower shop.
at a shisha bar.

This crazy guy is everywhere! And we say again: there is no Einzeltäter, this is a racist society.

So if we are speaking of the racism in the Heims, about the racism on the street, racism in the deportations, we are speaking of a racist system, which has killed the 9 people in hanau one year ago.
and which is killing us every day!

So let’s get it clear: the
the state does not
never did and will never
protect us,
we have to organize ourselves!

Racism acts to depoliticize us, to divide us, to prevent us from organizing. But today we are here to repeat, that we will never stop to organize, to protest, to demand justice for those killed by racism.

Kommt mit uns am 19. Februar zusammen, um Ferhat Unvar, Gökhan Gültekin, Hamza Kurtović, Said Nesar Hashemi, Mercedes Kierpacz, Sedat Gürbüz, Kaloyan Velkov, Vili Viorel Păun, Fatih Saraçoğlu und allen anderen Betroffenen rassistischer Gewalt zu gedenken.

Gedenkorte am 19.02., ab 16 Uhr:
Rathausplatz, Neukölln
Oranienplatz, Kreuzberg
Leopoldplatz, Wedding

Antifaschistische Demo am 20.02.
14 Uhr, S-Bhf Hermannstraße

Hanau war kein Einzelfall.
Erinnern heißt verändern,
Gedenken heißt kämpfen!

Das Morden wir nicht aufhören solange wir nur Schweigeminuten einlegen, Gedenkmärsche veranstalten und Reden halten. Es wird nicht aufhören solange Ermittlungsbehörden die Angehörigen verdächtigen anstatt die wahren Täter zu suchen. Es wird nicht aufhören solange Akten, die zur Ermittlung von Tätern führen könnten, weggesperrt werden oder vernichtet werden. Es wird nicht aufhören solange von der Hufeisen Theorie geschwafelt wird und es wird nicht aufhören solange anti-Faschist*innen kriminalisiert werden….

Es wird auch nicht aufhören solange wir uns auf Lippenbekenntnissen von Liberalen verlassen, wie wir zuletzt in Thüringen gesehen haben sind sie bereit alle diese Prinzipien über Bord zu werfen sobald es darum geht Interessen zu wahren.

Seit Jahrzehnten leisten Migrantischen Communities, Schwarze und andere nicht weiße Menschen, Antifaschist_innen und ihre Unterstützerinnen Widerstand gegen die zunehmende Faschistisierung dieser Gesellschaft und ebenso lange wurde ihnen vom Staat die Arbeit verunmöglicht. Sie wurden kriminalisiert, eingeschüchtert und verfolgt.

Der Umgang mit dem Widerstand macht unverblümt deutlich das anti-Faschismus nicht zu den Grundwerten dieser Gesellschaft gehört. Im Gegenteil Thüringen und die schier endlose Reihe von Anschlägen von den achtzigern bis heute sind als Ergebnis einer anhaltenden Verweigerung sich Faschisten und Rassisten nicht nur entgegen zu stellen sondern sie mit allen Mitteln zu bekämpfen. der deutsche Staat immer noch sich mehr von anti-Faschisten bedroht fühlt als von Nazis.

Wir dürfen angesichts dieser Gewalt nicht in Passivität verfallen, und uns aus Angst in das private zurückziehen. Wir müssen Widerstand leisten, wir müssen Zusammenhänge aufbauen die den Faschismus bekämpfen und nicht nur das, wir müssen für eine andere Gesellschaft kämpfen, einer solidarischen und damit den sozialen und politischen Ursachen des Faschismus etwas entgegensetzten.

We, the International Women* Space would like to show our solidarity with the families of the nine victims of the terrorist attack in Hanau last night! And like many other people we are angry, but not surprised!

This terrorist attack was not done by a lone wolf. This terrorist was very active online. His messages were sent in german and also in english to different racist platforms. It is impossible to believe the police, the secret service had never spotted him and if they knew of his existence and plans we can only conclude that the police is complicit and the state is incompetent.

It is very difficult to believe that after the NSU Murders, the Halle attack, the assassination of Walter Lübcke, and now Hanau, that the state has not found a way to properly address Germany’s racism problem.

We refugees are tired of hearing about 2015, when Merkel let refugees crossed the border of Germany. Since then the discourse is that BECAUSE of the refugees because of 2015, the AFD got stronger
that racist attacks increased because of our presence BULLSHIT!!! Racism is a problem in this country! Right extreme groups are a problem in this country and this DID NOT start in 2015

We urgently need stricter laws against racism and racist crimes. We need you all to hold your relatives, friends, acquaintances accountable for their racism.

We need to seriously address the issue of racism and understand how many we are. Because Hanau murders are showing us how freely extremists are organising in Germany.

And don’t forget, refugees are NOT your scapegoat! This has nothing to do us!