Neukölln Stories 'Memories of a Neighborhood'
LiTE-HAUS Gallery
Mareschstr. 4 12055 Berlin
Ein kleiner Schritt, der für Ostermann in diesem Kiez schwere Folgen hatte: Erst flogen Steine in die Scheiben seiner Buchhandlung. Ostermann ließ Sicherheitsglas einbauen, gitterte Fenster ein und tauschte die Schlösser aus. Wenige Wochen darauf brannte sein Ford Focus, diesmal vor seiner Privatadresse in Neukölln-Britz. Totalschaden Nummer 1. Nachbarn und Freunde sammelten Spenden, Ostermann kaufte von dem Geld als Ersatzwagen einen Peugeot und spendete den Rest. Ungefähr 11 Monate konnte er ihn fahren. Dann brannte in der Nacht zum 1. Februar auch der Peugeot.
13 von Rechten abgefackelte Autos zählt die Mobile Beratung gegen Rechtsextremismus Berlin (MBR) seit Mai 2016 in Neukölln, hinzu kommt ein Brandanschlag auf ein linkes Cafe und einen Wagenplatz, 15 aus dem Asphalt gerissene Stolpersteine, die an von Nazis deportierte Juden erinnern sollten, sowie Dutzende Bedrohungen durch Graffiti an Hauswänden. Vor- und Nachname von Engagierten werden dabei an die Wände der Häuser gesprüht, in denen sie leben, meist gefolgt von dem Schriftzug “Rote Drecksau“. Ob Brandsatz oder rote Farbe, die Botschaft ist dabei immer dieselbe: Wir wissen, wo ihr wohnt. Auch zuhause seid ihr nicht vor uns sicher.
-Annika Leister. Frankfurter Rundschau
We are burning with interest in you
The bookshop Leporello lies in a quiet shopping street of Neukölln. In De- cember 2016, shortly after the right-wing populist AfD won seats in the national parliament, the bookshop hosted a discussion evening entitled “What to do against the AfD? Stand up against racism”.
Shortly afterwards the bookshop window was smashed in. In January, the owners car was set on fire and destroyed. Local residents got together and raised money for a second car for him. That vehicle has also been torched. Burning cars are a common sign of political violence in Berlin - easy to do, and hard to trace. In the past three years at least 13 cars have been torched by the far right in Neukölln alone.
Mirjam Blumenthal, a centre-left SPD politician on the district council, has also been hit. Her car was set alight and a youth centre she runs has been hit by two arson attacks. Neo-Nazi symbols later appeared on the youth centre’s walls, alongside the words “We are burning with interest in you.” According to Berlin police, more than 400 far-right criminal acts have been reported in Neukölln since 2016. These include smashed windows, arson attacks or physical violence. But also neo-Nazi death threats, with individu- als’ names daubed in red paint on the walls of their homes.
Neukölln is a large district, home to more than 300,000 people. The north- ern part of Neukölln is urban, multicultural and rapidly gentrifying — full of hip cafes and creative international types. As rents rise, people are moving out to southern Neukölln, where for decades there has been a small but well-established far-right scene. Many believes this is one reason why the violence here has flared up. “This is traditionally a very white middle-class area, but that’s now changing, it is becoming more multicultural, with peo- ple with different lifestyles. These far-right guys don’t feel comfortable with that.
-Damien McGuinness, BBC News, Berlin.
