The brutal murder to Dieter Eich: a victim of right-wing violence in Berlin-Buch

The brutal murder to Dieter Eich: a victim of right-wing violence in Berlin-Buch

On May 24, 2000, the social welfare recipient Dieter Eich was brutally murdered by several neo-Nazis in his apartment in Berlin-Buch. These celebrated an inauguration of the apartment and chose Eich as a victim because he was considered a "dirty anti -social" and lived in the same house. While the perpetrators, age groups from 17 to 21 years of age, were in a nearby snack, they planned the attack on Eich, who had recently lost his partner. Armed with a 15 cm long hunting knife, they penetrated his apartment and attacked him in the hardest way.

The brutal attack ended with the fact that one of the perpetrators, René R., stood out with the knife into the chest, which led to his immediate death. After the crime there was a grotesque celebration among the perpetrators who celebrated the murder as a heroic deed. The four men were arrested a few days later when blood traces led to them. Despite its transfer, the court said that there was no political motive for the murder; It only looked at him as the cover of a bodily harm.

legal processing and late recognition

On March 2, 2001, the Berlin Regional Court fell judgments with prison terms between five and eight years under juvenile justice law and up to 11 years and 6 months under adult criminal law. Over two decades, the murder was initially not recognized as a right -wing extremist crime. In retrospect, he was only considered a right murder by the federal government in 2020. Organizations such as the Amadeu Antonio Stiftung and the initiative "Nobody is forgotten" emphasized the urgency of this recognition and criticized the handling of the security authorities with right-wing violence.

The initiative "Nobody is forgotten" has been organizing memorial events regularly since 2007 and not only addresses the murder of Eich, but also the social exclusion and the situation of socially disadvantaged. A plaque for Dieter Eich was ceremoniously inaugurated on May 25, 2022, with the then president of the House of Representatives, Dennis Buchner (SPD), on the late recognition of crime.

context on the right violence in Germany

The case of Dieter Eich is part of a worrying trend in Germany. The Federal Center for Political Education documents a significant increase in right -wing extremists. In 2020, 23,604 acts were recorded, including 1,092 acts of violence, which indicates an increase in hostility and attacks on political opponents. Legal terrorism is considered one of the greatest threats to security in Germany.

The number of victims of right -wing violence is high, since official statistics often remain behind the estimates of NGOs. While the Federal Criminal Police Office only motivated 109 killing offenses as a right-wing extremist, NGO estimates of at least 213. This discrepancy illustrates the challenges in recording and combating right -wing violence in society.

Dieter Eich's tragic murder and the following events are an urgent appeal not to close the eyes against the continuing problem of right -wing extremism. The case is and remains a memorial for the victims and an impetus for further examination of this topic.