{"id":11019,"date":"2019-08-29T11:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=11019"},"modified":"2019-08-30T19:29:55","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T19:29:55","slug":"how-one-night-changed-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/how-one-night-changed-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"How This One Night Changed Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, there was finally an <em>Urteil <\/em>(verdict) from the Landgericht Chemnitz (District Court of Chemnitz). Alaa S. was convicted of\u00a0<em>Totschlag\u00a0<\/em>(manslaughter) and <em>gef\u00e4hrliche K\u00f6rperverletzung <\/em>(dangerous bodily harm) on Daniel Hillig and is to go to <em>Gef\u00e4ngnis\u00a0<\/em>(prison) for\u00a0<em>neuneinhalb Jahre\u00a0<\/em>(nine and a half years)\u00a0<em>Haft\u00a0<\/em>(detention). They are going into\u00a0<em>Revision\u00a0<\/em>(appeal), claiming that the <em>Beweis <\/em>(evidence) is shaky. This <em>Rechtsfall\u00a0<\/em>(legal case) is a big deal in Germany. Here&#8217;s why, and how it led to a high-ranking public officer having to leave office.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong>Erstochen in der Nacht<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_11031\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/de.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ausschreitungen_in_Chemnitz_2018#\/media\/Datei:Gedenkort_Daniel_H_Chemnitz.jpg\" aria-label=\"Gedenkort Memorial Daniel Hillig Transparent German Chemnitz 1024x768\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11031\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11031\"  alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-1024x768.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The <em>Gedenkort<\/em> (place of remembrance) for Daniel Hillig in Chemnitz (Image by ChemnitzIstWederGrauNochBraunNochBunt at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 4.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So what happened, exactly?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s\u00a0<em>26. August, 2018\u00a0<\/em>(August 26, 2018), 3:15 am. It is the morning of the last of three days of the <em>Chemnitzer Stadtfest\u00a0<\/em>(Chemnitz City Festival), which celebrated the city&#8217;s 875th\u00a0<em>Jubil\u00e4um\u00a0<\/em>(anniversary). And it is a fateful hour. A German man is <em>erstochen\u00a0<\/em>(stabbed to death) and two more Germans are severely injured after a fight. The news quickly spreads that the alleged <em>T\u00e4ter\u00a0<\/em>(perpetrators) are Syrian and Iraqi. Anti-immigrant\u00a0<em>Demos\u00a0<\/em>(short for\u00a0<em>Demonstrationen\u00a0<\/em>&#8211; demonstrations, rallies) were held the next day. While these were relatively small-scale, with perhaps 1,000\u00a0<em>Teilnehmer\u00a0<\/em>(participants), controversy ensued when the following videos surfaced.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><em>Hetzjagd gegen Ausl\u00e4nder<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"de\" dir=\"ltr\">Video von Jagdszenen in Chemnitz. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/c2608?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#c2608<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/73I13zEXIJ\">pic.twitter.com\/73I13zEXIJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fabian Eberhard (@FabianEberhard) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FabianEberhard\/status\/1033796270106787841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>These would show evidence of a\u00a0<em>Hetzjagd\u00a0<\/em>(hunt) against\u00a0<em>Ausl\u00e4nder\u00a0<\/em>(foreigners). Journalist Johannes Grunert, who was following the\u00a0<em>Demos\u00a0<\/em>on the ground, claimed that &#8220;<em>Sie sind auf jeden losgest\u00fcrmt, der nicht Deutsch aussah<\/em>&#8221; (&#8220;they rushed upon anybody that did not look German&#8221;). Especially the second video would show this well.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Maa\u00dfen and the video<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WUT IN CHEMNITZ: Bundesregierung verurteilt &quot;&#039;Hetzjagden&quot; scharf\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BPFzSeHUVcY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There was a lot of\u00a0<em>Zweifel\u00a0<\/em>(doubt) and\u00a0<em>Unsicherheit\u00a0<\/em>(uncertainty) about what had really happened. There were\u00a0<em>Ger\u00fcchte\u00a0<\/em>(rumors) that the fight started as the Germans tried to help a woman that was being harassed by the\u00a0<em>Ausl\u00e4nder<\/em>. However, the\u00a0<em>Polizei\u00a0<\/em>(police) said these were claims that circulated without reason to believe this was true. Even whether there was an actual <em>Hetzjagd\u00a0<\/em>or not was hotly debated.<\/p>\n<p>In the video above at 0.40, you can see an excerpt of <em>Regierungssprecher <\/em>(government speaker, similar to the White House Press Secretary) Steffen Seibert explaining the <em>Position\u00a0<\/em>(position) of the\u00a0<em>Regierung\u00a0<\/em>(government):<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Solche Zusammenrottungen, Hetzjagden auf Menschen anderen Aussehens, anderer Herkunft, oder den Versuch, Hass auf den Stra\u00dfen zu verbreiten, das nehmen wir nicht hin. Das hat bei uns in unseren St\u00e4dten keinen Platz.<\/em>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(&#8220;Such riotous assemblies, hunts on people with a different appearance, different origin or the attempt to spread hate on the streets, that we do not accept. That has no place in our cities.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p>Seibert based this statement on the videos and news published about the events.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand,\u00a0<em>S\u00e4chsischer Ministerpr\u00e4sident\u00a0<\/em>(Saxony&#8217;s minister president, similar to a State Governor) Michael Kretschmer was clear that there were no mobs and no\u00a0<em>Hetzjagd:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kretschmer zu Chemnitz: &quot;Es gab keine Hetzjagd&quot; | DER SPIEGEL\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vmrJnYLFTJ8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Hans-Georg Maa\u00dfen, President of the <em>Bundesamt f\u00fcr <\/em><em>Verfassungsschutz\u00a0<\/em>(Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or short <em>BfV<\/em>), said the following in an interview with the paper <em>Bild\u00a0<\/em>on September 7, 2018:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Es liegen] keine belastbaren Informationen dar\u00fcber vor, dass solche Hetzjagden stattgefunden haben&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(&#8220;No reliable information [is available] whether such hunts took place&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>He furthermore doubted the\u00a0<em>Authentizit\u00e4t\u00a0<\/em>(authenticity) of the video above, since it was posted by Antifa, a left-leaning group with a motive to spread misinformation on an extreme right <em>Hetzjagd.<\/em> Though there were no reasons to believe the video was fake.<\/p>\n<p>These statements led to outrage from many political party leaders, who wanted clarity on why Maa\u00dfen thought this. The\u00a0<em>BfV\u00a0<\/em>is comparable to the FBI, responsible for domestic intelligence. What was it that Maa\u00dfen was saying here? Did he have information that was not publicly available that would shed light on what happened? And how come then, that Maa\u00dfen&#8217;s boss Merkel and her\u00a0<em>Regierungssprecher\u00a0<\/em>made contradicting statements?<\/p>\n<p>Based on the information available, this was seen as irresponsible behavior and evidence for Maa\u00dfen no longer being fit for this office.<\/p>\n<p>More back and forth followed, and this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merkur.de\/politik\/chemnitzer-hetzjagd-debatte-merkel-greift-maassen-an-lenkt-im-seehofer-brief-ab-zr-10199172.html\">further escalated in the following weeks<\/a>, culminating in Maa\u00dfen&#8217;s dismissal from his position.<\/p>\n<p>As it later turned out from chat protocols of August 26 and 28, groups had indeed agreed to meet for\u00a0<em>Jagden\u00a0<\/em>on\u00a0<em>Neuzugezogene\u00a0<\/em>(new newcomers).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How did this night change Germany? To many, no matter which parts turned out to be true or not, it was a shocking display of\u00a0<em>Rechtsextremismus\u00a0<\/em>(right-wing extremism) in Germany.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>And the\u00a0<em>Stadtfest<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <em>Stadtfest <\/em>finished early on its last day due to the protests. The damage to the image of the <em>Chemnitzer Stadtfest\u00a0<\/em>due to these events has prompted the city to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chemnitz.de\/chemnitz\/de\/kultur\/hoehepunkte\/stadtfest\/index.html\">not organize it in 2019<\/a>! As a response, <em>B\u00fcrger\u00a0<\/em>(citizens) decided to organize their own\u00a0<em>B\u00fcrgerfest\u00a0<\/em>(citizen festival) as an\u00a0<em>Ersatz<\/em> (replacement), which took place last weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-350x263.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/Gedenkort-Memorial-Daniel-Hillig-Transparent-German-Chemnitz.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Last week, there was finally an Urteil (verdict) from the Landgericht Chemnitz (District Court of Chemnitz). Alaa S. was convicted of\u00a0Totschlag\u00a0(manslaughter) and gef\u00e4hrliche K\u00f6rperverletzung (dangerous bodily harm) on Daniel Hillig and is to go to Gef\u00e4ngnis\u00a0(prison) for\u00a0neuneinhalb Jahre\u00a0(nine and a half years)\u00a0Haft\u00a0(detention). They are going into\u00a0Revision\u00a0(appeal), claiming that the Beweis (evidence) is shaky. This Rechtsfall\u00a0(legal&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/how-one-night-changed-germany\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":11031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[376028,551762],"class_list":["post-11019","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-current-events","tag-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11019"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11057,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11019\/revisions\/11057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}