Riot of Rostock-Lichtenhagen
Encyclopedia
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
took place in Rostock-Lichtenhagen
Rostock-Lichtenhagen
Lichtenhagen is a borough of Rostock in the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.It is a Plattenbau housing estate built from 1974 to 1976. It derives its name from the adjacent village of Elmenhorst/Lichtenhagen...
; it was the worst mob attack against foreigners in postwar Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Although there were stones and petrol bombs
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
thrown at an apartment block that housed asylum seekers, no one was killed. At the height of the riots, several hundred militant right-wing extremists were involved, and about 3,000 neighbourhood onlookers stood by, supporting them.
The initial response of authorities and politicians was heavily criticised. Prior to the riots, there had been for days, in some newspapers, veiled warnings of an impending melee. Police and politicians seemed reluctant to respond and when they did respond, the response was inadequate to meet the need. Outside the building where the refugees were housed, several hundred asylum seekers had been camping for several days with little or no access to basic facilities, leading to escalating tensions in the neighbourhood.
Between August 22–26, 1992, there were 370 provisional arrests and 408 preliminary investigations relating to the riots. Among the arrested were 110 people from the former West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, 217 from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, including 147 from Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
and another 37 from the former East Germany. During the riot, 204 police officers were injured.
Background
Plattenbau
Plattenbau is the German word for a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of Platte and Bau...
apartment complex known as the "Sunflower House" or "Sunflower Tower" because of the large sunflowers decorating the side of one building. The building was notorious for the inhumane conditions under which the asylum seekers there were living and for whom there was little if any support. The authorities ignored the numerous complaints from citizens and residents over the filthy and deplorable conditions in the apartment building.
Roma
The shelter was originally meant to house 300 refugees a month, but by summer 1992, the shelter was averaging 11,500 refugees per month. Primarily Roma from RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, they were left by overwhelmed shelter staff to camp out in front of the building, days at a time. The municipal government refused to provide portable toilets and there was no water or garbage collection. Clashes between the homeless foreigners and the Lichtenhagen residents increased. Neither the city nor the state government took action.
For days, prior to the riots, the newspapers Norddeutsche Neueste Nachrichten and Ostsee-Zeitung had been calling for a "Lichtenhagen interest group". There were anonymous warnings that if by the weekend, the refugee shelter was not "cleaned up," there would be order made. This gave young gang members from every corner of Rostock, normally enemies, a date, place and purpose to congregate. One 19-year old skinhead said, "The police know the Rostock Skins and 'Hools' [hooligans]. When something like this is announced, we're there!"
The riot started with young people from the neighbourhood throwing stones on the first day. This was contained by the police, but media coverage encouraged neo-nazis to roam the area. This led to a situation where a xenophobic mob outnumbered the police by day three. The original asylum target was evacuated on the second day and the mob stormed a neighbouring building where 115 Vietnamese immigrants, a social worker and a ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
television crew had mistakenly been left behind. While the building burned, they barricaded their doors against rioters armed with baseball bats and Molotov cocktails, who were climbing over the balconies. Below, a mob of over 5,000 spectators eagerly watched and applauded.
Charges of police and political incompetence were leveled from the beginning. One explanation cited for lack of effective action by the police is that they were reluctant to take action that might be reminiscent of the recently cast off communist state. Also, there were charges that the police and the politicians were privately sympathetic with the anti-foreign sentiment.
The first major conviction related to the riots was on March 4, 1993, though 24 convictions on lesser charges had already been obtained. A 22-year old man was convicted of throwing a firebomb at police, of seriously disturbing the peace, violating weapons laws and attempt to injure. An attempted murder charge was dropped for lack of evidence. Critics complained that no one was being convicted of assaulting a foreigner, only of assaulting the police or of disorderliness. It took almost ten years to prosecute 408 people.
The following timeline was reconstructed by the "Legislative Committee to Investigate the Refugee Shelter Incident" ("Parlamentarischer Untersuchungsausschuss zu den Ereignissen um die ZAst")
Timeline
August 22, Day 1From about 6:00 p.m. a large crowd begins to assemble in front of the refugee shelter. At 8:02 p.m., thugs start attacking the shelter and the violence escalates quickly. By 10:46, the police are forced to retreat from the area. 11:02 p.m. Riot police arrive on the scene and are attacked with Molotov cocktails. 11:24 p.m. Another police unit arrives from Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
. 1:34 a.m. Water cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s are in set up and put in continuous use. Between 1:34 and 2:34 a.m., the rioters are pushed towards the autobahn. 2:25 a.m. A water cannon vehicle is set on fire by a Molotov cocktail. 2:30 a.m. Rostock police command calls a police alarm and the armory is opened. Officers are issued with tear gas and fire at the crowd. The situation calms down until 5:30 a.m.
Day 1 Statistics: 160 police officers, 300 rioters, 13 police officers injured, 9 arrests.
August 23, Day 2, Part 1
100 people are gathered in front of the shelter.
11:15 a.m. Rostock police department requests back-up from other police departments. Squads respond from Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
, Anklam
Anklam
Anklam is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 and was the capital of the former...
, Stralsund
Stralsund
- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
and Güstrow
Güstrow
Güstrow is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany the capital of the district of Güstrow. It has a population of 30,500 and is the seventh largest town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Since 2006 Güstrow has the official suffix Barlachstadt.-Geography:The town of Güstrow is located...
. The Landespolizei
Landespolizei
thumb|[[Germany|German]] police officer in [[Hamburg]]The Landespolizei are the main police forces of Germany. They are under the sole jurisdiction, funded and operated by the states of Germany.-History:...
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern sends two additional water cannons. Two reserve units (Einsatzhundertschaften
Hundertschaft
Hundertschaft is a German term to denote a military or police group of around one hundred members. Historically the Germanic tribes created fighting groups of 100 men. This term is not used in the modern German military...
) from the Federal Border Patrol (Bundesgrenzschutz or BGS) are activated. 2:15 p.m. Plainclothes officers report the arrival of 30 known Neo-Nazis to the area.
August 23, Day 2, Part 2
At 6:45 p.m. about 400 rioters start attacking the shelter. 7:18 p.m. the rioters start throwing Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s. 8:00 p.m. The police use water cannons to clear the area. 8:30 p.m. The police resort to firing live ammunition. 10:00 p.m. The police officer in charge reports that without reinforcements, within 30 minutes, the situation will be impossible to control. 10:30 p.m. A police car is set on fire. 10:41 p.m. State police declare a state of emergency (Landespolizeialarm).
The state level state of emergency allows for additional, federal brigades to be pulled in. Hamburg send out its SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
(SEK and MBK)
Spezialeinsatzkommando
Spezialeinsatzkommandos are the special response units of the German state police forces. German SEKs are full-time units whose members do not perform any other duties, and are essentially the equivalent of American SWAT Teams...
units. These riot police units (normally about 100 officers each), are reinforced by two police dog
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
squads from Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, a reserve unit from Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
and helicopters from the federal police.
2:55 a.m. The 2nd Hamburg Unit arrives on the scene. 3:45 a.m. The 1st Hamburg Unit arrives. 4:10 a.m. The situation quiets down. The Hamburg units take over the night watch.
Day 2 Statistics: 850 police officers, 500 rioters, 70 police officers injured, 130 arrests.
August 24, Day 3, Part 1
2:00 p.m. Under the protection of the Hamburg units (now 16 hours in action) the shelter is evacuated. The large crowd of onlookers give notice of a melee at 4:00 p.m. The police learn of a telephone net-work that hooligans are using to organize the melee, which is to attack the police exclusively if the shelter is cleared out.
August 24, Day 3, Part 2
7:45 p.m. Reinforcements from the 4th Brigade, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern arrive to replace the Hamburg riot units, now in action for 21 hours. 7:55 p.m. Ten minutes after the replacements arrive, the order is given to withdraw all protection for the shelter.
8:00 p.m. During the retreat from the building, the Federal Border Patrol units reinforcing the 2nd Hamburg Unit come under attack. At this point, the crowd of cheering onlookers has grown to an estimated 3,000. 8:05 p.m. Squads from the 2nd Hamburg Unit, which had already left the scene, are ordered back to reinforce the Border Patrol unit under attack. In order to push through the crowd, they resort to using batons
Baton (law enforcement)
A truncheon or baton is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, plastic, or metal...
. The commanding officer of the 1st Hamburg Unit reports that the threat of violence is higher than he's seen in 5 years' experience in Hamburg's Hafenstraße
Hafenstraße
Hafenstraße is a common German abbreviation of St. Pauli-Hafenstraße, a street in St. Pauli, a quarter of Hamburg, Germany....
and Flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
.
8:15 p.m. The 1st Hamburg Unit and the 4th Brigade MV reach the other units. Water cannons are used and police cordons
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
are formed. Rail transport police are radioed for back-up. The alarm is "Officers in Distress". The 1st Hamburg Unit also provides support.
8:40 p.m. A technical problem knocks out one water cannon. 9:20 p.m. The retreating 1st Hamburg Unit seeks cover from the water cannon of the 4th Brigade, MV. 9:34 p.m. The water supply of the second cannon runs out. The 4th Brigade MV, about 100 strong, is up against 800 rioters. 10:37 p.m. The 4th Brigade MV forms a police cordon
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
and aims the water canons on the crowd to allow the fire department to get through. 10:55 p.m. The 1st Hamburg Unit is sent back to Hamburg after 25 hours of duty. Midnight. The 4th Brigade MV begins clearing out the remaining hooligans, about 300 strong, while the 2nd Hamburg Unit is sent back to Hamburg after 26 hours of duty. 12:30 a.m. The area settles down.
2:00 a.m. 400 hooligans again begin to storm the refugee shelter, using every means possible. The police have a strong presence. Up to 7 water cannons are used to clear the streets surrounding the apartment complex where the shelter is located. About 1,000-1,200 rioters take part in the melee with the police. By 3:00, the situation is under control.
Day 3 Statistics: 2050 police officers, 2000 rioters, 117 police officers injured, 58 arrests.
Media
- Mark Saunders. "The Truth lies in Rostock (AVI, 698,7 MB)" August 1992. (BRD, Great Britain, 78 min.)
- "Barbecue in Rostock" — Song by Neo-nazi band No Remorse, inspired by the riots
External links
- "Ten years later: Progroms in Rostock-Lichtenhagen" Upheaval Picture Archive. Accessed Feb. 20, 2010
- "Recommended Resolution and Interim Report" (PDF) Legislative Board of Inquiry of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, June 16, 1993 ( Untersuchungsausschuss des Landtags Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Beschlussempfehlung und Zwischenbericht)
- Liane von Billerbeck. "I was part of the pack" Die Zeit, No. 25 (2002) "Ten Years after the Lichtenhagen Pogrom: Offenders who are turned into martyrs, a murder charge and an uncertain verdict". Accessed Feb. 20, 2010
- Christoph Koch. "The Sunflower House: Rostock-Lichtenhagen 15 years after the riots, searching for traces" (originally published as a Stern/NEON report) October 26, 2007. Accessed Feb. 20, 2010
- Dieter Wulf. "Applause for incendiary acts" (Rich Text FormatRich Text FormatThe Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
) Transcript of radio broadcast, Deutschlandfunk, April 9, 2002. ("Beifall für Brandsätze," Deutschlandfunk)