“What happened Rostock It is a shame for our country. And politics has a great shared responsibility for this shame”. The words of the German Federal President, Frank Walter Steinmeiersums up the image envisioned by the country this Thursday 1992: Thousands of citizens led by neo-Nazi gangs were physically and verbally attacked for days foreign and petitioners asylum in the northeastern German city. The recently reunited country was broadcasting images very reminiscent of those abroad. antisemitic and racist pogroms The darkest years of German history.
Between 22-26 August 1992 Rostock-Lichtenhagen Characterized by its high-rise apartments inherited from the socialist architecture of the former German Democratic Republic, the GDR has been the scene of xenophobic riots and attacks. Molotov cocktail against foreigners and refugees. Those who did not actively attack foreigners, first of all, applauded each of the Molotov cocktails that hit the facades of the attacked building in which they resided. Vietnamese workers He came to the country before the collapse of the GDR. Masses “Germans for Germans! Foreigners out!” ‘ the alcohol flooded the xenophobic assembly as he shouted.
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The 1990s were marked by a wave of nationalism and xenophobia, especially in eastern Germany. this mass unemployment resulting from the privatization of companies in East Germany. nationalism powered by reunification It resulted in a series of xenophobic attacks. The incident in Rostock-Lichtenhagen was not an isolated incident. In those years, more than 400,000 people fled the country. Yugoslav war seeking asylum, mostly Roma.
Images of the riots remained for generations to come and are still projected on television today to remind citizens of the country’s ugliest face. “The need to defend democracy is a lesson from our history, but also from most recent history,” President Steinmeier said during a visit to Rostock on Thursday. Parts of the building, which was attacked in 1992, were declared to be present. national heritage From Germany and under protection.
Miraculously, the Rostock-Lichtenhagen riots did not cause death. Some Vietnamese citizens managed to leave the burning building through the roof, and some local officials who were there at the last moment desperately sought the police officers. On the afternoon of August 24, when the worst attacks took place, riot gear They were removed from the area. Today, there are still those who wonder how and why this decision was made.