Five people were killed in the arson attack on a Turkish family in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, in May 1993. Gürsün İnce, Hatice Genç, Gülüstan Öztürk, Hülya Genç and Saime Genç fell victim to the right-wing extremist attack. Several family members were also injured. The perpetrators were sentenced to between 10 and 15 months in the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court in the fall of 1995. The attack caused a nationwide sensation, outrage and sympathy for the fate of the family. More than 30 years later, regular memorial events continue to be held at the site. The attack and the trial were also followed with concern in Wolfsburg. In cooperation with the city's integration department, Angelo De Mitri, a committed trade unionist and founder of the Circolo Pugliese (Apulia Association) cultural association, then placed a sign in the public space against right-wing terror and neo-Nazism in Germany. He planted a "tree of life" at the centrally located Schillerteich pond and placed a rectangular sand-lime brick in memory of the victims and survivors. It reads: "In memory of the victims of xenophobia - Intercultural Week 1993 - On the initiative of the Apulia Association". The original design of the "Solidarity" sculpture was created by Mechthild Hartung, slightly enlarged and sculpted in sandstone by Rainer Scheer.
Graphic Novel
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Explanations to the picture
The picture shows Angelo De Mitri with suitcase in hand on his arrival at Wolfsburg station.
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Angelo was born in a small village near Brindisi, in San Vito dei Normanni. His parents worked in agriculture. His older brother was able to go to university after school, but there wasn't enough money for him to follow the same path. Angelo had to work, but finding a job was not easy in Italy in the 1960s. There were few jobs and high unemployment. When he heard that there was work in Wolfsburg at the local car plant, he traveled to Germany on 14 June 1964.
His aversion to uniforms also brought him to Wolfsburg. In Italy, you could be exempted from military service if you were working abroad.
So he arranged to meet a friend to go to Germany with him and work there. But the friend didn't show up at the agreed meeting point.
So Angelo ended up traveling to Wolfsburg with his COUSIN.
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Explanations to the picture
The picture shows Angelo De Mitri with two colleagues on the assembly line at the VW plant
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The work at VW was monotonous and not particularly challenging for Angelo. His German colleagues were not really friendly to him. They always called him "Badoglio*".
Pietro Badoglio was a leading Italian military officer during the Second World War. Initially an opponent of Mussolini, then on his side, he turned against him and the German occupiers in 1943. He was appointed Prime Minister by the King after the fall of Mussolini. He became a "traitor" for German propaganda at the latest with the signing of the peace treaty with the Allies and their forced declaration of war on the Germans
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Explanations to the picture
The picture shows Angelo De Mitri with other people and a VW Beetle on the road
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They wanted to dance at the weekend, but it wasn't that easy. As Italians, they were not welcome and were usually turned away at the door. They drove around everywhere to find a place to dance: To Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Wolfenbüttel, but the same everywhere. One of them had heard of a place where you could also get in as an Italian. And since Angelo had a Beetle, the five of them squeezed into the car and set off. And they drove and drove and drove - for hours towards the south. Half a trip around the world to eventually arrive in Bamberg. 417 kilometers, only to be given a less than friendly welcome.
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Explanations to the picture
The picture shows Angelo De Mitri dancing with a woman in a dance bar
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He says: "I have to tell you something, I'm Italian."
She replies: "You're Italian? I didn't even realize that! You speak more like someone from the neighborhood, like a farmer."
A colleague at work finally told him that if he wanted to dance, he should go to Bevensen. So he went there - and the atmosphere there was indeed different, for once he didn't feel ostracized as an Italian. What's more: Unlike most of his Italian friends, he was blonde. When he asked the young women to dance and they looked up to him, they didn't immediately recognize him as Italian. But he usually confessed it to them while dancing. He whispered it into the ear of one of them - he liked her answer very much. She later became his wife.
Angelo di Mitri during the move.
He left the Volkswagen factory and Wolfsburg behind and moved to Bevensen, which is now called Bad Bevensen and seemed so much friendlier to him. But finding a job there proved difficult, which is why he started working at his old job again in the 1980s, only he commuted every day since then.
Angelo De Mitri is recognized for his commitment against xenophobia.
However, it was not only in his private life that he found happiness, but also a new purpose. He founded the Circola Pugliese association and traveled with it not only to Italy and the capitals of Europe, but also to Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald. He was awarded the Italian Order of Merit for his commitment. When the right-wing extremist arson attack in Solingen took the lives of five people in 1993, he set an example against xenophobia in Wolfsburg, as he felt that such an attack could happen anywhere,
such an attack could happen anywhere.
Speech by Lisa Abagat,
a pupil at the Eichendorffschule grammar school (year 12)
The speech was given on 27 January 2024 as part of the commemorative event organized by Wolfsburg students themselves to mark the "International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust".
And now, finally, I would like to address them again personally, but above all you, my fellow pupils, because I really want to give you something. I realized and organized this event on my own initiative and I would now like to explain why. From pupil to pupil.
In these times, prevention, activism and education are more important than ever. If you look at the history books today, you can unfortunately see some overlaps with the dark chapters of history. An extreme shift to the right can be observed across Europe and for marginalized groups such as migrants, homosexuals and women, the freedoms and securities that were previously commonplace are becoming a precious commodity.
Here at school, some of you have already heard and seen witnesses. They told us about the terrible times of the Second World War and also warned us about current political developments. It is worrying to see how many of you, despite this, have voted for a party whose representatives are certainly right-wing extremists.
This speech is in no way intended to be a rant on right-wing political orientation. On the contrary, I want to encourage you to form your own political opinion, whatever it may be. But I also want to warn you. Right-wing extremism and National Socialism are becoming more and more popular in our generation. It is frightening to see how much enthusiasm there is for these issues among today's youth. You must be clear: We are the future. We are the ones who decide how everything will develop here. And we are the ones who have high hopes for our future. We all have our own dreams...
One person wants to travel, another wants to start a family, yet another wants a career. And the great thing is that everyone here has a choice, can have a say and shape their own path. These freedoms are worth so much and I don't think anyone here can even imagine living without them. How could they? We all only know our privileged everyday lives. The life that is built on so many different people with so many different backgrounds and stories. Whether it's the ticket inspector, the whole circle of friends, the sales clerk, the doctor, cleaners, scientists and so on. Thousands of people are like a huge dynamic that is the cornerstone of your everyday life. The everyday life that we should all appreciate more.
Nobody here wants conditions like back then. Oppression, fear, anger, poverty, violence, hunger and suffering on an immeasurable scale. That was often the reality in history. And in the Second World War, it was the result of National Socialism. We are responsible for ensuring that such conditions never occur again. The Third Reich did not start with gas chambers. The Third Reich was created by hatred and intolerance. It began with false promises, effective propaganda, the denial of human rights and with many who simply looked the other way.
So when you go out here today: don't look away, form your own opinion, question the sources you use to do so, stand up for what corresponds to your values and standards and, above all, be empathetic and show acceptance towards all people. Because the same blood flows in all of us. It is not differences that divide us, but our own inability to recognize and appreciate them.
