{"id":387,"date":"2008-03-14T04:27:02","date_gmt":"2008-03-14T08:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/2008\/03\/14\/letter-from-munich-357\/"},"modified":"2008-03-20T05:44:51","modified_gmt":"2008-03-20T09:44:51","slug":"letter-from-munich-357","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/2008\/03\/14\/letter-from-munich-357\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Munich 357"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letter from Munich – the Joseph Affair \u2013 357<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Dusseldorf, 14 March 2008<\/p>\n

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

First Report – Steffen Judzikowski, Wolfgang Kramer, Joe Sperling, \u201eMuegeln unter Verdacht \u2013 Deutsche jagen Auslaender,\u201c ZDF, Frontal 21, Broadcast of 21 August 2007.<\/p>\n

PARTS 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10:<\/p>\n

(Note: The relevance of this article lies in the fact that a cover-up in a town like Muegeln can also happen in Saxony, in Sebnitz. It can have happened, at the time of Joseph\u2019s death.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAn attack was also launched against the back of the building where the pizza restaurant is. This building is almost one minute away from the tent where the fight started, and to reach it, the attackers had to break through a gate. They must have had not only a knowledge of the street layout but also a firm intent to do harm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really happened that night in the tent where the fight began, a fight that ended with fourteen people injured? We met with a young man who claimed that the dispute had started with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung Man: It was all the fault of the ones from India. They started it.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: How?<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung Man: We were just here in the tent, dancing. Then those guys came along and started shoving us and things like that. So I stood up, and they started hitting me and stuff. I got hit with somebody\u2019s fist three times, and I took out some pepper spray and sprayed their eyes. Then things really got going.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: Why did you have pepper spray with you?<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung man: Because I knew something would happen. Just for self-defense. The others, the Nazis, are the ones who went on with it. I kept out.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: There were Nazis here?<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung man: Yeah.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: You knew that Nazis were here?<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung man: Yeah, you recognize them.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: How?<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung man: Yeah, well, everybody knows them!<\/p>\n

\u201cA special police investigation will eventually explain just how harmless the partygoer with the pepper spray really was.<\/p>\n

\u201cIlka Peter, West Saxony police: \u2018I think that it was a situation where people were urging each other on, and then things started to escalate. A few neo-Nazi slogans were shouted, but the people who were doing the shouting didn\u2019t come in and didn\u2019t stay around very long.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: The men from India, meanwhile, had already taken refuge in the pizzeria. Then things really got going, according to an eyewitness who does not want to be identified. For about a half hour, it is reported, there were only a few police officers at the entrance to the Pizzeria Piccobello, guarding it from a mob.<\/p>\n

\u201cWitness: At first there was this huge crowd, and six policemen, in front of the Picobello (sic) pizzeria. Then this really enormous crowd was standing in front of the Picobello (sic) shop, around 100 or 150 people \u2013 and not just right-wing extremists. All the locals, as individuals, were taking action.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Journalist:) The witness said that this situation lasted a rather long time, and then the riot police arrived. It was then that the conflict escalated and became a massive battle, according to the witness.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Journalist:) People were standing about 150 meters (165 yards) from the riot police, and they started taking up paving stones and throwing them. Some bottles were also thrown.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: \u2018Who was throwing things at whom?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWitness: \u2018People were throwing bottles at the police. Nobody can say they were all right-wing extremists. They were just ordinary local people, from every social level.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe West Saxony police confirmed this.<\/p>\n

\u201cIlka Peter, West Saxony police spokesperson: \u2018Then the street battle started, with people throwing beer bottles, beer glasses, and tableware at the police officers. And of course the police defended themselves.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalist: \u2018Was that a street battle?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIlka Peter, West Saxony police spokesperson: \u2018A street battle \u2013 well, I\u2019ve known other street battles. It certainly was a tricky situation\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuegeln: population just under 5,000. Not much happens in this town where the processes of building up and tearing down eastern Germany go on all around it. A lot of people in Muegeln feel abandoned by \u2018those above us,\u2019 i.e., politicians and the authorities. The result is a sense of frustration and a sullen attitude toward the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaxony\u2019s prime minister, Georg Milbradt, stops by to check out the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe claps Muegeln\u2019s mayor on the shoulder. The latter has been in office for seventeen years and says he doesn\u2019t understand his townspeople anymore. He plays down the issue and says that Muegeln is not a right-wing extremist place.<\/p>\n

\u201cGotthard Deuse, member of the Liberal Democratic Party and Mayor of Muegeln: \u2018I\u2019m telling you quite simply that this thing was a spontaneous event that just escalated. I think nobody wanted to give offense. Things like that always happen at public festivals. If the men from India had not been there, there would have \u2013 yes, there can be friction like that among Germans too. It always happens\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

(First Report – to be continued)<\/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

Kantelberg-Abdulla E-Mail: majoskant@t-online.de<\/p>\n

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

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

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/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 14. M\u00e4rz 2008<\/p>\n

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

:Erster Bericht – Steffen Judzikowski, Wolfgang Kramer, Joe Sperling, \u201eM\u00fcgeln unter Verdacht \u2013 Deutsche jagen Ausl\u00e4nder,\u201c ZDF, Frontal 21, Sendung vom 21. August 2007.<\/p>\n

TEILE 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 und 10:<\/p>\n

(Bemerkung: Die Relevanz dieses Artikels liegt darin, dass eine Vertuschung in einer Kleinstadt wie M\u00fcgeln auch in Sachsen, in Sebnitz, passieren kann. Es ist m\u00f6glich, dass das passierte, zur Zeit des Todes Josephs.)<\/p>\n

\u201eDie Verfolger griffen auch von der Geb\u00e4uder\u00fcckseite an \u2013 fast eine Minute Weg, dazwischen ein Tor, das aufgebrochen werden musste \u2013 das setzt Ortskenntnis und feste Absicht voraus. <\/p>\n

Was ist wirklich passiert in der Nacht, als der Streit im Festzelt begann, und mit insgesamt 14 Verletzten im Tumult endete? Wir treffen einen Jugendlichen, der behauptet, mit ihm habe die Auseinandersetzung begonnen.<\/p>\n

O-Ton Jugendlicher: Die Inder waren doch selber dran schuld. Die haben doch angefangen. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: Wieso? <\/p>\n

O-Ton Jugendlicher: Na ja, wir waren hier im Festzelt, waren wir tanzen. Na, dann kamen sie an uns zu schubsen und so was. Na ja, dann stand ich drau\u00dfen, dann haben sie mich angefangen zu schlagen und so. Dann habe ich drei, vier Faustschl\u00e4ge abgekriegt. Na, dann habe ich\u2019s Pfefferspray rausgeholt und denen in die Augen gespr\u00fcht und dann ging\u2019s schon los.<\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: Warum hatten Sie Pfefferspray? <\/p>\n

O-Ton Jugendlicher: Weil ich wusste, dass was losgeht. Als Notwehr. Die Anderen, die Nazis haben dann weitergemacht, ich hab mich dann rausgehalten. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: Es waren Nazis hier? <\/p>\n

O-Ton Jugendlicher: Ja. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: Sie wussten, dass hier Nazis sind? <\/p>\n

O-Ton Jugendlicher: Sieht man eigentlich. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: Woran? <\/p>\n

O-Ton Jugendlicher: Na ja, die sind schon bekannt!<\/p>\n

Wie harmlos dieser pfefferspraybewaffnete Partyg\u00e4nger wirklich war, wird die Polizei-Sonderermittlungsgruppe kl\u00e4ren. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Ilka Peter, Polizeidirektion Westsachsen: Ich denke mal, das ist eine Situation gewesen, die sich hochgeschaukelt hat, die dann angefangen hat zu eskalieren. Es sind rechtsradikale Parolen gerufen worden, aber der, der die Parolen gerufen hat, muss noch lange nicht die T\u00fcr eingetreten haben. <\/p>\n

(Journalist:) Die Inder hatten sich inzwischen in der Pizzeria verschanzt. Da ging es erst richtig los, berichtet uns ein Augenzeuge, der Angst hat, offen zu sprechen. Rund eine halbe Stunde lang sollen nur ein paar Polizisten den Eingang der Pizzeria Piccobello vor dem Mob gesch\u00fctzt haben.<\/p>\n

O-Ton anonymer Zeuge: Erst stand da \u2019ne Menschenmasse, sechs Polizisten standen vor dem Picobello (sic), und \u2019ne Riesen Menschenmasse stand im Halbkreis vor dem Picobello (sic) -Laden, circa 100 bis 150 Leute \u2013 nicht nur Rechtsradikale. Vereinzelte Personen, haben alle B\u00fcrger agiert.<\/p>\n

(Journalist:) Es dauert eine l\u00e4ngere Zeit, dann trifft \u2019Bepo\u2019, die Bereitschaftspolizei, ein, berichtet der Zeuge. Jetzt erst sei der Konflikt zum Massenkrawall eskaliert.<\/p>\n

Dann standen die Leute vielleicht 150 Meter entfernt von der \u2019Bepo\u2019 und fingen an, Kopfsteinpflastersteine zu entfernen und die zu werfen. Und Flaschen wurde geworfen.<\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: Wer hat da auf wen geworfen? <\/p>\n

O-Ton anonymer Zeuge: Die B\u00fcrger haben auf die Polizei die Flaschen geworfen. Also man kann nicht sagen, dass das Rechtsradikale waren, waren echt B\u00fcrger, alle Schichten. <\/p>\n

Die Polizeidirektion Westsachsen best\u00e4tigt heute diese Darstellung. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Ilka Peter, Polizeidirektion Westsachsen: Dann beginnt die Stra\u00dfenschlacht, also dieses Werfen von Bierflaschen, Biergl\u00e4sern und Biertischgarnituren auf die Polizeibeamten, die sich dann nat\u00fcrlich gewehrt haben. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Frontal21: War das ne Stra\u00dfenschlacht? <\/p>\n

O-Ton Ilka Peter, Polizeidirektion Westsachsen: Stra\u00dfenschlacht, ja ich kenne andere Stra\u00dfenschlachten \u2013 es war schon haarig.<\/p>\n

M\u00fcgeln: knapp 5000 Einwohner. Nicht viel los in dieser Kleinstadt zwischen Aufbau und Abriss Ost. Viele f\u00fchlen sich \u201evon denen da oben\u201c Im Stich gelassen. Frustration und Staatsverdrossenheit. <\/p>\n

Landesvater Milbradt kommt vorbei, will sich informieren. <\/p>\n

Schulterklopfen f\u00fcr den B\u00fcrgermeister. Der ist seit 17 Jahren im Amt, versteht seine B\u00fcrger nicht mehr. Wir sind doch keine rechtsextreme Stadt, wiegelt er ab. <\/p>\n

O-Ton Gotthard Deuse, FDP, B\u00fcrgermeister M\u00fcgeln: Ich sage einfach auch, dass diese Sache, die dann eskaliert ist, eine spontane Sache gewesen ist und ich denke auch, da niemandem nahe zu treten, bei Volksfesten passiert das immer mal. Wenn die Inder nicht da gewesen w\u00e4ren, h\u00e4tte -ja k\u00f6nnen genauso Reibereien zwischen Deutschen sein, denn das passiert ja immer mal.\u201c<\/p>\n

(Erster Bericht – Fortsetzung folgt)<\/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

Kantelberg-Abdulla E-Mail: majoskant@t-online.de<\/p>\n

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

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

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

Letter from Munich – the Joseph Affair \u2013 357 EINE DEUTSCHE FASSUNG STEHT WEITER UNTEN. (German translation below \u2013 German language character set required for correct display.) Dusseldorf, 14 March 2008 Dear Mr. Graf, dear friends, First Report – Steffen Judzikowski, Wolfgang Kramer, Joe Sperling, \u201eMuegeln unter Verdacht \u2013 Deutsche jagen Auslaender,\u201c ZDF, Frontal 21, […]<\/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-387","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\/387","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=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/munichletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}