{"id":305,"date":"2006-08-25T04:26:01","date_gmt":"2006-08-25T08:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/2006\/08\/25\/letter-from-munich-278\/"},"modified":"2006-08-31T09:33:49","modified_gmt":"2006-08-31T13:33:49","slug":"letter-from-munich-278","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/2006\/08\/25\/letter-from-munich-278\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Munich 278"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letter from Munich – the Joseph Affair \u2013 278<\/strong><\/p>\n

EINE DEUTSCHE FASSUNG STEHT WEITER UNTEN. (German translation below \u2013 German language character set required for correct display.)<\/p>\n

Dusseldorf, 25 August 2006<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. Graf, dear friends,<\/p>\n

Continuation of the letter of last week (from an article on the World Socialist Website: \u201cDer Tod des sechsjaehrigen Joseph Abdulla\u201d, by Dietmar Henning, 30 November 2000, www.wsws.org\/de\/2000\/nov2000\/jose-n30.shtml):<\/p>\n

\u201cThe witness who made that statement was twelve years old at the time. He also reported that Joseph was abused with a stun gun, with \u201cseveral electric shocks\u201d: one \u201con the lower stomach, one on the lower part of the right arm, one on the neck, one on the ear, one on the genitals\u201d. This description agrees with that of other eye-witnesses. Several witnesses voluntarily reported what they saw to the Abdulla family, but none of them spoke to the police. Many of them told the family that they were afraid, not only afraid of the right wing \u2013 they would trust no one.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the day after Joseph\u2019s death, there were flowers, candles, and placards at the swimming pool entrance. On one placard was written, \u201cYou murderers, you\u2019re guilty of the death of Joseph Abdulla\u201d. The next day, these expressions of solidarity and grief had disappeared. No one claims to know who removed them. For the time being, Joseph\u2019s gravestone is in the cellar of the family home. Out of fear that his grave might be desecrated by right-wing extremists, the little boy lies buried \u2013 anonymously \u2013 in a cemetery in western Germany, next to his grandfather.<\/p>\n

Continued next week.<\/p>\n

Sincerely yours,<\/p>\n

Robert John Bennett<\/p>\n

Ernst-Gnoss-Strasse 22<\/p>\n

40219 Dusseldorf<\/p>\n

Germany<\/p>\n

Telephone: +49 211 586 4847<\/p>\n

Mobile: +49 152 0285 4626<\/p>\n

E-Mail: rjbennett@post.harvard.edu<\/p>\n

Websites: http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/MunichLetters<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/Germany2\/<\/p>\n

NOTE: The following letter was written by Saad and Renate Kantelberg-Abdulla, the parents of the boy Joseph (original German text below \/ deutsche Version liegt unten):<\/p>\n

Dear Bob,<\/p>\n

We are looking for an attorney experienced in international law who could represent us in the following:<\/p>\n

A lawsuit for obstructing the investigation of a racially-motivated murder,<\/p>\n

A lawsuit for damages resulting from our expulsion from the town of Sebnitz, in Germany, a town that allows only \u201cAryan Germans\u201d, in a \u201cforeigner-free\u201d zone.<\/p>\n

We are paying the mortgage on our house at Rosenstrasse 11 in Sebnitz, although we no longer live there. Eurohyp A.G. in Leipzig has threatened us with foreclosure, at an enormous loss for us, in which case we would be still be obligated to pay the remainder of the mortgage. In our second house in Sebnitz, at Hertigswalder Strasse 22, right-wing radicals are harassing our renters, in order to drive them from the building.<\/p>\n

It is our understanding that the lawsuits we are considering could perhaps be brought before a court in the United States under the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789.<\/p>\n

We urgently need a contact address, preferably an e-mail address.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Saad and Renate<\/p>\n

majoskant@t-online.<\/em>de<\/p>\n

——————————————————–<\/p>\n

Since many recipients of this letter may read German more easily than they read English, the following is the author\u2019s translation of the above letter. Please note that word-processing programs outside of German-speaking countries may not display all of the letters of the German alphabet correctly.<\/p>\n

Alle Briefe aus M\u00fcnchen sind abrufbar:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/MunichLetters<\/p>\n

D\u00fcsseldorf, den 25. August 2006<\/p>\n

Sehr geehrter Herr Graf, sehr geehrte Freunde,<\/p>\n

Fortsetzung des Briefes (aus einem Artikel auf der World Socialist Website: \u201cDer Tod des sechsjaehrigen Joseph Abdulla\u201d, von Dietmar Henning, 30. November 2000, www.wsws.org\/de\/2000\/nov2000\/jose-n30.shtml):<\/p>\n

\u201eDer damals zw\u00f6lfj\u00e4hrige Junge, der diese Aussage machte, hat auch berichtet, dass Joseph mit einem Elektroschocker misshandelt wurde. Mit “mehreren Stromschl\u00e4gen”: einen “im unteren Bauch, einen am rechten Unterarm, einen in den Nacken, einen auf das Ohr, einen auf das Geschlechtsteil”. Diese Schilderung deckt sich mit anderen Zeugenaussagen. Mehrere Zeugen haben sich freiwillig bei der Familie Abdulla gemeldet. Doch niemand von ihnen sprach mit der Polizei. Viele erkl\u00e4rten der Familie, sie h\u00e4tten Angst. Nicht nur vor den Rechten, sie w\u00fcrden niemandem trauen.<\/p>\n

Am Tag nach Josephs Tod lagen Blumen, Kerzen und Plakate am Eingang des Freibades. Auf einem Plakat stand: “Ihr M\u00f6rder, ihr seid Schuld am Tod von Joseph Abdulla”. Am n\u00e4chsten Tag waren diese Bekenntnisse der Solidarit\u00e4t und Trauer verschwunden. Niemand will wissen, wer sie entfernt hat. Das Grabkreuz von Joseph steht inzwischen im Keller der Familie. Aus Angst vor rechtem Vandalismus liegt der kleine Junge auf einem westdeutschen Friedhof neben seinem Gro\u00dfvater begraben – anonym.\u201c<\/p>\n

Fortsetzung n\u00e4chste Woche.<\/p>\n

Mit freundlichen Gr\u00fc\u00dfen<\/p>\n

Robert John Bennett<\/p>\n

Ernst-Gnoss-Strasse 22<\/p>\n

40219 Dusseldorf<\/p>\n

Germany<\/p>\n

Telephone: +49 211 586 4847<\/p>\n

Mobile: +49 152 0285 4626<\/p>\n

E-Mail: rjbennett@post.harvard.edu<\/p>\n

Websites: http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/MunichLetters<\/p>\n

http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/Germany2\/<\/p>\n

Dies ist die urspr\u00fcngliche Version eines Briefes von Josephs Eltern, Saad und Renate Kantelberg-Abdulla:<\/p>\n

Lieber Bob,<\/p>\n

Wir suchen einen international t\u00e4tigen Rechtsanwalt, der uns in folgenden Punkten vertritt:<\/p>\n

1. Anklage wegen Vereitelung der Ermittlung eines rassistischen Mordes in Deutschland,<\/p>\n

2. Anklage auf Schadenersatz wegen Vertreibung aus der deutschen Stadt Sebnitz, eine Stadt, die nur reinrassische, so genannte \u201earische Deutsche\u201c in einer \u201eAusl\u00e4nderfrei Zone\u201c zul\u00e4sst.<\/p>\n

Wir bezahlen die Schulden f\u00fcr unser Haus in der Rosenstr. 11 in Sebnitz, obwohl wir nicht drin wohnen. Die Eurohyp in Leipzig droht schon wieder mit Zwangsversteigerung, nat\u00fcrlich mit hohen Verlusten, wobei man uns dann noch dazu verpflichten will, f\u00fcr die Restschulden aufzukommen. In unserem zweiten Haus in der Hertigswalder Str.22 in Sebnitz schikanieren Rechtsradikale unsere Mieter, um diese Mieter zu vertreiben.<\/p>\n

Wir verstehen, dass die Anklagen, die wir in Betracht ziehen, vor Gericht in den Vereinigten Staaten gebracht werden k\u00f6nnten, durch das Schadenersatzforderungsgestz f\u00fcr Ausl\u00e4nder (\u201eAlien Tort Claims Act of 1789\u201c).<\/p>\n

Wir brauchen dringend eine Kontaktadresse (E-Mail-Adresse).<\/p>\n

Mit freundlichen Gr\u00fc\u00dfen<\/p>\n

Saad und Renate<\/p>\n

majoskant@t-online<\/em>.de<\/p>\n

============================<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Letter from Munich – the Joseph Affair \u2013 278 EINE DEUTSCHE FASSUNG STEHT WEITER UNTEN. (German translation below \u2013 German language character set required for correct display.) Dusseldorf, 25 August 2006 Dear Mr. Graf, dear friends, Continuation of the letter of last week (from an article on the World Socialist Website: \u201cDer Tod des sechsjaehrigen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}