Note: The original German version was read during the trial proceedings on December 1st, 2020. The following English version has been amended in order to clarify and give further background to German memorial culture and history. There have been two attacks on the two synagogues of the Jewish community. Each occurred on the 9th day of an autumn month. The first was in November 1938, during…
Read MoreAt the end of yesterday’s hearing, there was a rumor that the current trial could be interrupted due to a defense motion. There is no such danger. There is no legal basis for the suspension of the trial. The defense lawyer requested a suspension, i.e. a restart of the trial or interruption of the trial for three weeks in accordance with Section 265 (3) StPo…
Read More(Speech was given in Goettingen on October 13, 2019) My name is Jessica and I was in the synagogue in Halle on Yom Kippur. And let me just put it out there, this is the hardest thing I have ever had to write, but I hope my message has a positive impact. First, I would like to take a few moments to remember those who…
Read MoreI walked out of the synagogue just a few minutes before the assailant arrived. I walked out the same door that the assailant tried to break in and shoot down, the same place where he brutally killed Jana L. If I had walked out a few minutes later, I would not be standing before you today. What happened: After the Yom Kippur morning service,…
Read MoreWith the beginning of the trial against the Halle assailant, not only his white-supremacist ideology is being dissected – but also German society at large as well as the systematic racism which is present in the courtroom. The responses of the accused are paraphrased in order to avoid the very perpetuation of racism that this article seeks to challenge. Tuesday, July 22nd, 2020 – marks…
Read MoreThank you for coming here so early this morning to show solidarity with the victims and to speak out against right-wing extremism. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. Thank you for listening to me. On October 9, 2019, Jews all over the world celebrated Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday. I spent that day in the Halle synagogue and survived a terrorist…
Read MoreDear fellow human beings, dear supporters, my name is Ismet Tekin. Standing next to me is my brother Rifat. We are survivors of the October 9, 2019 attack in Halle. Jana L. and Kevin S. did not survive that day. I would therefore ask you to take a short minute of silence for the victims. Thank you so much! It is not easy for me…
Read More22 July, 2020: the second day of trial for the perpetrator in Halle, the Magdeburg district courtroom made a conscious choice, a choice to broadcast the live-stream attack of the accused on every screen in the room, and every monitor, rather than in private quarters to the lawyers and judges present for the proceedings. And this choice not only gave the accused an opportunity to…
Read MoreA statement signed and published by some of the co-plaintiffs requested that the media not use the image and name of the perpetrator of the attacks in Halle. And to some degree this has been effective. Most notably local news media Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) has led the charge on this practice. Not only do they blur the attacker’s likeness and not give his full name,…
Read Moreבס”ד We are here today because we have lived through an attack that was directed against a perceived “other” – against Jews, against women, migrants, Muslims, People of Color and anyone else who did not fit into a worldview which is dominated by hate. This event. This event broke something within each and everyone of us – but not just us; also within our families…
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