Memorial event in Munich: NSU victim Boulgarides is remembered

Memorial event in Munich: NSU victim Boulgarides is remembered

Next Sunday, Munich will mark the 18th anniversary of the murder of Theodoros Boulgarides, a victim of the right-wing extremist terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU). The Greek small business owner, who was shot on June 15, 2005 in his newly opened locksmith shop on Stachus, was executed with three shots in the head and was the seventh victim in a series of murders that cost the lives of numerous people for racist motives in Germany from 2000 to 2006. Mayor Dominik Krause emphasizes the importance of consistently combating growing right-wing extremism and will lead the memorial event on Sunday, June 14, 2025, at 12 p.m.

Boulgarides came to Munich in 1973, where he completed his training and worked for renowned companies such as Siemens and Deutsche Bahn. He opened his locksmith business just two weeks before his violent death. This casts a shadow over the investigation, which initially did not focus on the NSU, but rather on the victim's private environment. The situation was similar with another NSU victim, Habil Kiliç, who was shot in a delicatessen in Munich on August 29, 2001. In his case, too, the police's first hypothesis was that there were criminal connections before the focus was on racist motives.
As the Evening newspaper reports, it is a scandalous fact that many of the NSU murders have been misinterpreted for years as acts of organized criminal groups.

The NSU murder series in focus

Between 2000 and 2007 there were a total of ten victims who were murdered by the NSU for racist motives. This included ethnic Turks, the Greek Boulgarides and the German policewoman Michèle Kiesewetter. The NSU's murder opera, often referred to as the "Kebab Murders", primarily benefited small business owners who lived in a more tense economic situation. The main perpetrators, Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe, lived underground from 1998 and maintained a network of violence and terror throughout this period. The case came to light on November 4, 2011, when the perpetrators were found dead in a mobile home after a failed bank robbery. Zschäpe then turned herself in to the police after setting fire to the hiding place in Zwickau.

The NSU was not only a series of murders, but also a serious failure by the security authorities, who investigated in the wrong direction for decades while leaving evidence of racist terror behind. The alleged connections between German secret services and the NSU also raise questions that have not yet been fully clarified.

Challenges and critical questions

Reporting on the murders was not only met with outrage because of the inadequate investigation, but also with an escalating xenophobic discussion among the public. For example, a report was submitted to the United Nations by the families of the victims alleging systematic racism in the Bavarian police. In the meantime, allegations have also been made about the collaboration of neo-Nazi informants with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which led to some police officers being suspended.

The NSU trial started in May 2013 and ended in July 2018 with Zschäpe being sentenced to life imprisonment. But many questions remain unanswered: How could such a dangerous group remain undetected for so long? Which networks supported the NSU? And how can the increasing right-wing extremism be combated sustainably? These and other aspects are also discussed in the dossier Bavarian State Center for Political Education Work critically discussed. Londy, we can only hope that commemorative events like the one on Sunday in Munich are not only a reminder, but also provide an impetus for an intensive conversation about our responsibility in the fight against racism and terrorism.