Munich Remembers NSU Victim Habil Kilic 25 Years After His Murder
Munich, August 29 – Approximately 50 individuals gathered today in Munich-Ramersdorf to commemorate Habil Kilic, a victim of the far-right ‘National Socialist Underground’ (NSU), 25 years after his murder. The event, marked by flowers and a memorial plaque, honored Kilic and other NSU victims, emphasizing remembrance and the fight against extremism.
The commemoration took place at the very location where the delicatessen owner Habil Kilic was brutally murdered a quarter-century ago. Representatives from the Turkish Council Munich, the City Council, the District Committee, and local residents attended the ceremony. However, family members of Habil Kilic, who now reside in Turkey, were not present.
A Call for Vigilance Against Hatred and Exclusion
Gonca Onal of the Turkish Council Munich underscored the importance of the gathering, stating, “We are here to remember, not to forget, and to collectively assume responsibility.” She issued a strong appeal to society as a whole to remain vigilant against rising violence, hatred, racism, and antisemitism. Onal posed a critical question: “What are we doing today to ensure that hatred and exclusion no longer have a place?”
The Gruesome Murder 25 Years Ago
Habil Kilic was 38 years old when he was murdered on August 29, 2001, in broad daylight. His daughter was then only twelve. The perpetrators entered his delicatessen in Munich-Ramersdorf, and Kilic was shot twice in the head while standing behind the sales counter.
For a long time, the police investigations, as with other victims of migrant background, pursued entirely wrong leads. Relatives and their social circles were wrongly suspected of having connections to drug dealers, the mafia, or arms dealers. This stigmatization continues to affect the survivors to this day.
The Ten Murders of the NSU
Among the victims of the NSU were four other men from Bavaria: Theodoros Boulgarides from Munich, and Enver Simsek, Abdurrahim Özüdogru, and Ismail Yasar from Nuremberg. In total, between 2000 and 2007, eight individuals of Turkish and one of Greek origin, along with a German policewoman, were murdered by NSU members.
The main perpetrators of the NSU, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, are deceased. They died on November 4, 2011, following a failed bank robbery in a camper van in Eisenach. The surviving accomplice, Beate Zschäpe, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Munich Higher Regional Court in July 2018 and is currently serving her sentence in a correctional facility.
The commemoration in Munich serves as a poignant reminder of the devastating impact of right-wing extremism and the ongoing need for societal vigilance and remembrance to prevent such atrocities from recurring.
