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Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Oktoberfest attack, Federal President Steinmeier called for more consistent action against right-wing extremists. Possible shortcomings in criminal prosecution should also be investigated.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for a more determined fight against right-wing extremism, including among police officers. “Enemies of freedom and democracy must not be tolerated in the police,” Steinmeier said as he marked the 40th anniversary of the Oktoberfest attack in Munich. “Every effort should be made to expose far-right networks where they exist.”
Looking at the suspected cases of right-wing extremists with the police in North Rhine-Westphalia, Steinmeier spoke of the deep roots that right-wing extremism had in society. Trust the police and know what the officers do. You deserve trust. However, police chiefs and those politically responsible “must not tolerate a climate in which such networks can emerge and be covered by others.”
“Looking away is no longer allowed”
Steinmeier raised the issue of deficits in the prosecution of far-right acts. The question arises as to whether “far-right networks in law enforcement are rarely noticed and even less taken seriously.” The history of far-right acts allows two answers. “Either the realization that these killers also have an environment, are integrated into or inspired by networks, only prevailed late, too late. Or second alternative: this understanding was deliberately ignored.”
Steinmeier referred to the killings by the NSU terrorist cell, which had not been recognized for years. For a long time, investigators had not classified them as far-right acts. The horror of right-wing terror is near again, even after the assassination of Kassel district president Walter Lübcke. “You are no longer allowed to look away,” Steinmeier said. He asked for a reflection on whether there were “typical and recurring deficits” in the pursuit of the Oktoberfest attack at that time and still today.
Act reevaluated
On the night of September 26, 1980, a bomb killed twelve Oktoberfest visitors and the right-wing extremist terrorist Gundolf Köhler, wounding more than 200. In July, after several years of new investigations, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office reorganized the act and discovered that Köhler was acting on far-right motives. In the 1980s, researchers called the attack an act of an individual out of personal frustration.
The company has a duty to support survivors beyond the criminal investigation, Steinmeier said. He is happy with a fund from the federal government, the Free State of Bavaria and the city of Munich in the amount of 1.2 million euros for the compensation of the victims. This is “a late, but important sign of solidarity.”
Söder apologizes
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder apologized for the errors in judgment and omissions after the attack. “I am sorry and I apologize for the mistakes that were made in the investigation, but also in the evaluation,” said Söder. He speaks as the legal successor to all the other prime ministers, at the same time as the head of the Free State.
“Anyone who underestimates the right-wing extremists is sinning against democracy,” Söder said. He made a “pledge of protection”: “We will not allow right-wing extremism, hatred, anti-Semitism, racism to be tolerated, accepted or underestimated in any way.” Bavaria will oppose this with all its might.
