Holiday acquaintances

Today the court heard several holiday acquaintances of Beate Zschäpe, Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos. In the years 2007 to 2011, the witnesses had met “the Three” every year on a caravan park on the island of Fehmarn and had formed a rather close relationship with them. Two families whose children were teenagers at the time described Böhnhardt, Mundlos and Zschäpe as pleasant and very sportive caravan neighbors, always open for group activities like sports or barbecues. In the case of one family, the contact evolved into an invitation to the daughter’s birthday party and a visit.

They described Beate Zschäpe as responsible for the money, as “caring”. She was responsible for laundry and cooking while the two men cared for the sports equipment, cars and handyman work.

With the exception of a tattoo showing a death head and a Stahlhelm helmet, which Uwe Böhnhardt, known to them as Gerry, described as a “youthful indiscretion”, and the fact that the Three never gave their home address, none of the witnesses noticed anything negative about them. In sportive clothing and without their brainless political slogans, the NSU was able to fly under the radar.

The witnesses’ testimony shows that Beate Zschäpe was a member of the group on the same level as Böhnhardt and Mundlos who in their division of labor was inter alia responsible for money matters. What’s more, it showed the professionalism with which “the Three” upheld their assumed identities, over a period of four years and vis-à-vis people whom they had befriended and formed some sort of relationship of trust with. Today’s testimonies thus again provided several pieces of proof showing that Beate Zschäpe was an equal and full member of the NSU and played an important role in full knowledge of the NSU’s crimes.