14 years after the NSU revelation: A shadow over Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

14 years after the NSU revelation: A shadow over Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

On November 4, 2025, we will look back on one of the darkest periods in German history: exactly 14 years ago, the National Socialist Underground (NSU) exposed itself. This far-right terrorist group was responsible for a series of racially motivated murders between 2000 and 2007 that left ten people, mostly ethnic Turks and one Greek citizen, dead. This also included the German police officer Michèle Kiesewetter. The murders were carried out at close range with a silenced pistol and reflect a cold-blooded approach that puzzled authorities for years.

This included the murder of Mehmet Turgut in 2004, which was the only murder in East Germany and took place in winter. Interestingly, this case was the only one in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the core trio of the NSU felt at home. This group, consisting of Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe, had an extensive network that, according to estimates, had up to 200 people in the know and supporters. The police initially investigated the victims' environment, but ruled out racist motives and suspected that foreign organized crime was behind the crimes.

A complex network

Despite their murders, the NSU was able to operate undetected until their self-discovery on November 4, 2011. This shows once again the failure of the German security authorities. While the police used false leads for a long time, the perpetrators were trapped in their neo-Nazi ideology. The NSU was responsible not only for the ten murders, but also for a number of other murder attempts, bomb attacks and bank robberies. The group financed its actions and supported neo-Nazi organizations with robberies, such as those in Stralsund, where large sums of money were stolen.

However, the NSU's involvement goes deeper. David Petereit, editor of the neo-Nazi magazine “Der Weiße Wolf”, was also involved in other right-wing extremist projects. He is said to have created an NSU/NSDAP CD that contained 15,000 right-wing extremist images and now sits in the local parliament for the “Die Heimat” party. These connections have led many to doubt the effectiveness of the German security authorities, and there are indications of possible collaboration with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Social reactions and grievances

The murders were often dismissed by the media as “kebab murders,” which only increased the dehumanization of the victims. There were also serious allegations against the Bavarian police of displaying racism in their investigations. The victims' families even filed a report with the United Nations to draw attention to these injustices. In addition, in 2019, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution revealed that around 13,000 people in Germany were classified as right-wing extremists and 21,290 crimes were classified as “politically motivated crime – right-wing”. For many, this represents a threat to our basic democratic order.

The explosive nature of the NSU issue continues to this day. Right-wing extremism continues to be a major social problem, as recently shown by the protests against COVID-19, which also included right-wing extremist participants. As a society, we must ask ourselves how we can address this phenomenon and ensure that the dark chapters of the past are not repeated.

In a world where right-wing extremist ideologies grow in the shadows, it is crucial to be vigilant and give the victims a voice. Every year on November 4th we remember the victims and remember the responsibility we bear as a society.