Opening of the first NSU documentary center in Chemnitz!

Opening of the first NSU documentary center in Chemnitz!

Chemnitz, Deutschland - On May 25, 2025, a documentation center was opened in Chemnitz via the right -wing extremist terrorist cell "National Socialist Underground" (NSU). According to Tagesschau.de , this center is the first of its kind in Germany and part of the application book of the city for the cultural capital of Europe 2025. It serves political education, the remembering of the victims of the NSU and the civil society dialogue and is considered a place of encounter for victims of right -wing and right -wing extremist violence.

The heart of the exhibition is entitled "Open Process", in which the crimes of the NSU are presented from the perspective of the families concerned. Personal items such as the wallet of a victim and the wristwatch from Mehmet Cubasik, which was murdered in 2006, are part of this moving show. Gamze Cubasik, the daughter of Mehmet, underlined the importance of the center for the processing of the history and the responsibility of society. Abdulla Özkan, a survivor of an NSU attack, emphasized that the new location offers hope for recognition for the families concerned.

memory and responsibility

Barbara John, the Federal Government's ombudsman for NSU victims, emphasized the need for damage and suffering for the relatives of the victims. Between 2000 and 2007, the NSU murdered nine people with a migration background and a policewoman and committed numerous other attacks. The terrorist cell existed until 2011 and included Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe. While Mundlos and Böhnhardt committed suicide in 2011, Zschäpe 2018 was sentenced to life in prison.

The documentation center will also offer space for education, discussion and research. Workshops and seminars as well as an archive for research are planned to promote an examination of the past and to enable a dialogue between different population groups. Khaldun Al Saadi from the “Open Society” initiative emphasizes that this place should be more than a museum, but an inviting space to raise awareness of right -wing extremism.

planned future and investments

From May 28, 2025, the center is open to visitors, with fixed opening times from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The federal and state governments have each invested two million euros in the project. In Saxony, grass root movements fought hard for this center, and after it was admitted to the state government's coalition agreement, many are positive about the goals of the center.

The NSU documentary center in Chemnitz not only reflects the past, but also the desire to actively shape a democratic society. The “Open Society” initiative has received a lot of encouragement for the project in Chemnitz, and other similar centers in Germany are planned, for example in Nuremberg. This initiative is part of a broader discussion about the need to reflect the history of the NSU and the failures of the authorities. A feasibility study that has recently been presented demands the establishment of decentralized places of memory to meet the victims of the NSU terror.

The opening of the center is a significant step towards dealing with and promoting social dialogue about the consequences of the NSU complex, as well as swr.de and Tagesschau.de report.