NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #18/NN_1992_18.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/5889

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From: [e-mail] (Blythe Systems)
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Subject: NEWS:Pogrom in Mannheim/ECN
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Date: 18 Aug 92 23:03:45 GMT
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Via The NY Transfer News Service ^ All the News that Doesn't Fit

from the European Counter Network

NEWS: Pogrom in Mannheim/ECN

Pogrom in Mannheim?

It has come to this point again!  Every day there are racist
attacks and terror against immigrants, and people who look and
think differently. Houses burn. People die. This is the result
of the zenophobic policies of the German political parties and the
propaganda of the German media.

It has come to this point again!  Nazi organizations are
consolidating their structures and fascist parties are able to
obtain huge percentages of the vote, in part entering local and
regional parliaments as the third strongest party. The
bourgeoisie parties talk of "protest votes" and stir up the
situation through a hightened "foreigner law" and through an
"asylum procedure speed up law" which further limits the rights of
asylum seekers; through the so called "assembly camps," in which
refugees will be interned under degrading conditions.

It has come to this point again!  The state and police are
carrying out a repressive hunt, not only against "foreigners," but
also support groups and antifascists. They use almost every means
at their disposal to combat this resistance. They can employ
their full police and legalistic repertory without delay and
without problem, something which they rarely do against the racist
mobs.

It has come to this point again!  The media endorse this line and
help this system to sweep the problem of racism in Germany under
the carpet. Sensationalism at demonstrations, portrayal of racist
attacks as harmless, reporting that is inexact, incomplete or
non-existent, smear campaigns against "autonomists" and "chaoten"
distracting from the real situation and perpetrators. Ultimately,
the image of the German and his fatherland is at stake.

Once again it has come to this point!  Nazis are endorsed in their
ideology and their murderish actions by the one sided reaction of
the state, police and media. Citizens are induced to join the
brown mob, and to do the same. The people's rage is being
directed into the desired channels.

In the Mannheim suburb of Schoenau on May 28th 1992 it was once
again to this point. A racist mob, consisting of residents and
fascists, besieged and attacked a refugee home every night for a
week and threatened to storm it. This is worse than the pogrom of
Hoyerswerda. Although none of the refugees were seriously injured,
a media blackout ensures that these occurences will be hidden.
Only when the information slowly spread among antifascists was the
police machinery, the banning of demonstrations, media smear
campaigns and intimidation of the populace put into place.

Chronological Overview

Fall 1991 - A former US army barracks is transformed into housing
for asylum seekers.

Spring 1992 - There is a wave of protest against the housing
project for refugees in Schoenau (subburb of Mannheim).

26 May 1992 - A rumor, later shown to be false, is spread that one
of the refugees raped a 16 year old girl from Schoenau.

28 May 1992 - Drunken German participants of a father's day party
get into a brawl. The reconciliation ends in the decision to
storm the refugee home. About 400 Schoenau residents gather in
front of the home and yell racist slogans. Local youth show up
with baseball bats and fireworks.

29 May 1992 - In the future the city of Mannheim wants to ensure
law and order in the refugee home: single men will be replaced by
families in the home. Again hundreds of residents gather in front
of the camp.

30 May 1992 - Since 8pm around one hundred anti-fascists await the
mob and the police in front of the refugee home. More than three
hundred residents assemble. The police seperate both groups.

31 May 1992 - The home is quiet. Six police vans stand on the
land of the homes. The police tell the refugees that "it's better
not to leave the camp."

3 June 1992 - At 7pm the first anti racist demonstration takes
place. There are confrontations between antifascists and the
racist mob. The police force the groups apart. There are five
arrests. It is not until early in the morning that there is again
quiet at the camp.

4 June 1992 - A demonstration is announced for Saturday the 6th in
Mannheim-Schoenau. The police cordon off the entire suburb and
control every movement. Personal and vehicular searches among the
60-70 anti-fascists arriving that day result in five arrests.

5 June 1992 - The Buro of Order in Mannheim declares a ban on
demonstrations in all of Schoenau. up to this point there have
been 7 police night operations in a row.

6 June 1992 1pm - The Mannhaim administrative court upholds the
ban on the demo.

4pm - A talk with the police commander Gentrupp brings no results.

7:20pm - A spontaneous demo of about 500 people is beaten and
dispersed.

8:10pm - A large police force storm the youth center and arrest
uninvolved persons.

8:30pm - The arrests are suddenly ended, although about 20 people
are still in the center.

 - As a result of the use of clubs, dogs, and hoses, at least 15
people are injured, some seriously. About 150 are arrested.

 - In Goettingen there is a spontaneous solidarity demo of about
100 people in response to the happenings in Mannheim.

12 June 1992 - The demo for Saturday 13.6, already announced and
authorized is forbidden by the city of Mannheim. The residents
are intimidated and incited against the demonstrators through a
mass mailing, flyers and large newspaper advertisements. The city
asks for understanding for massive police action and warns against
participating in the protest.

13 June 1992 3pm - Entire highways to Mannheim are occupied with
massive police controls. Some sections of the autobahn are
blocked. Through stop and search methods within the city of
Mannheim there are 200 to 250 arrests.

 - Demonstration participants in Karlsruhe are prevented from
getting to the autobahn, where upon 200 people decide on a
spontaneous demo.

 - The legal support office in Mannheim is stormed by the police.
There are several arrests. Records and telephone are confiscated.

 - A convoy from the north with about 500 people is stopped on the
autobahn exit Sandhofen by the special police and divided into
four seperate groups surrounded by police. 8pm Two demonstrations
in Sandhofen (about 500 people) and Mannheim center (1500-2000
people) are able to take place. 10pm End of both demos.

 - Also on this day, about 250 racists gathered in front of the
refugee camp.

 - Solidarity demos against the demo ban and against racism took
place this weekend spontaneously in Munich (50 people), Kassel
(100), Passau (150), Berlin (200), Hamburg and Regensburg among
others.

19 June 1992 - Refugees and immigrants begin a hungerstrike in
protest against the racist attacks and against "the unproportional
actions of the mayor and the police" at the dispersal of the demo
on 6.6.

27 June 1992 - In the center of Mannheim there is a demonstration
by the hungerstrikers. Only about 100 people take part. The demo
ends without conflict.

28 June 1992 - The hungerstrike is ended.


Translated from a documentation of the happenings at Mannheim.
Hoyerswerde is a city in former East Germany where neo-nazis and
"ordinary" Germans carried out a pogrom against refugees last
September, burning their home and seriously injuring several
people.

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