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The prosecution is investigating within the Bremen fire brigade: employees are said to have been openly racist and sexist for years in chat rooms and at the police station. Meanwhile, the interior senator has taken the necessary steps.
By Sebastian Manz, Radio Bremen, as well as Reiko Pinkert and Jan Lukas Strozyk, NDR
The Bremen prosecutor’s office searched at least one residential building in the Bremen area on Tuesday morning. The background is incidents in the Bremen professional fire department: a group of firefighters are said to have made racist comments in chats and sent radical right-wing photos.
According to information from at least one of the men is against NDR, Radio Bremen and “Süddeutscher Zeitung” (SZ), a preliminary investigation has been launched on suspicion of sedition and use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations. This was confirmed by the authorities inside Bremen. The prosecutor has not yet commented.
According to witnesses, the man showed a photo of his children in front of swastika flags at the station. At work, according to statements, he often allowed himself to be called by his nickname – also on the radio or by his superiors – which bears the name of a great Nazi of the Nazi era. The man could not be reached for a statement at first.
Inhumane comments also in conversation
Various firefighters are also said to have spoken inhumanely about their colleagues and those in need, sometimes in their presence. This is evident from the chat logs and audio recordings that NDR, Radio Bremen and SZ are available. Witnesses report that the events were ignored for years despite complaints at the management level from the Bremen fire brigade.
The minutes of the chat group date back to 2013. For years, some men sent pictures with the swastika, photos of Adolf Hitler and racist and inhuman sayings about non-white people, Muslims, Turks and Jews.
Many of the accusations are likely legally prohibited from a legal standpoint. In a conversation about soccer jerseys, a firefighter asked for jersey number 88 – if it was occupied, then number 18. In the neo-Nazi scene, number 88 means Heil Hitler, 18 for Adolf Hitler.
The morning after the victory of the German soccer team against Brazil in the semifinals of the 2014 soccer World Cup, a member of the group sent a photo of a house in which, obviously through image processing, an inscription ” Sieg Heil “, huge swastika flags Photos of Hitler had been attached and it had been written” So the house is decorated (sic) “. Another image shows a children’s slide protruding from the roof of a high-rise building into the void, which includes the phrase: “New playground for the home of asylum seekers.”
The authority investigates the incident
The authorities inside Bremen have opened an investigation and have heard several witnesses. NDR, Radio Bremen and SZ there are testimonial transcripts, chat logs and sound recordings that are a heavy burden on firefighters. Reporters were also able to speak with several witnesses who work or have worked for the same firefighters.
They reported a climate of fear of intimidation and hatred of minorities. Racist and sexist statements were therefore the order of the day in different guards. In some cases, supervisors should not only have tolerated the tone of the conversations, but should have specified it themselves as well.
Interior senator assumes management of the fire department
After the incidents became known, Interior Senator Mäurer drew the first conclusions: at a press conference, he stated that he would initially personally take over the management of the Bremen fire brigade. He also appointed former State Councilor Karen Buse as a special investigator. The main defendant was suspended from his duties. Mäurer stressed that allegations against individual firefighters should not lead to widespread suspicion against the entire workforce.
Rape fantasies and serious insults
A lesbian firefighter reports that a colleague said about her, “something like that just needs a real cock.” Several colleagues had also spoken of her with the pronoun “is” instead of “she”, as she was not accepted as a woman because of her sexual orientation. The woman with a migrant background had also been referred to as “Kanake” several times by colleagues and superiors, also in her presence.
A sound recording of a conversation at the station can be heard as several colleagues apparently talk about wanting to hit a firefighter. “Just put a bar of soap on the towel and give it to him,” suggests a firefighter. An interlocutor says that he “sacrifices himself” and “leaves”. […] like a hero in jail. “During the course of the conversation, the men also fantasized about how they could make the woman rape. The recording is found NDR, Radio Bremen and SZ and the editors know the names of the firefighters involved.
There were also verbal insults against those seeking help with a immigration background. After multiple false alarms were triggered in a refugee accommodation, one of the firefighters is said to have said he wanted a “live fire” there so that there would “finally be peace”.
The lawyer sees a structural problem
Attorney Lea Voigt represents some of the witnesses. For the lawyer, it is clear: “These are not individual cases, but a structural problem within the professional fire department of Bremen. It is imperative that an independent complaints office be established.”
In recent years there have been repeated instances of neo-Nazi activity in fire departments throughout Germany. In Thuringia, according to media reports, a youth director of the fire brigade is under investigation for sedition after a right-wing chat group was discovered.
Last year, the president of the German Firefighters Association had publicly warned against the infiltration of the AfD. He then denounced hateful messages and threats against himself and his family, and at the end of the year announced his resignation.
