Going underground with „Blood and Honour“, Part II

Today the questioning of Mandy Struck, an early supporter from Chemnitz, was continued. (We reported on her earlier testimony in our posts of 26 February and 27 February 2014). Struck again tried to downplay the Nazi ideology and violence of the scene and to represent herself as unimportant. However, persistent questioning at least revealed a few details. A positive development is that the presiding judge told the witness not to evade the questions of victims’ counsel and also asked several critical questions concerning “Blood and Honour.”

At the end of Struck’s questioning, victim’s counsel Hoffmann made a statement regarding her testimomy, which we reprint below:

Witness Mandy Struck, whose questioning was continued today, was an integral part of the Nazi scenes both locally in Chemnitz and in Germany. She was a member of the “Blood and Honour” network in Chemnitz and/or of the “No. 88s” in Chemnitzer – we know from other witnesses that both groups were practically identical.

Struck had an influence over the scene due to her work in the “Organization for the aid of national prisoners” [an organization devoted to supporting Nazis in prison, which was dissolved by the German government in 2011] and her involvement in the “Franconia Action Front” from Nuremberg. She was thus able, among other things, to have an article calling on the Nazi scene to move beyond internal differences, published, under her own name and together with an imprisonment “comrade”, in the zine “Landser” which was read all over Germany. She initiated the building of a woman’s group and the posting of posters.

In her testimony, she tried to downplay her importance, the quality of her contacts and her involvement in various Nazi networks. To give only one example, she claimed that the license plate of her car – ending in “BH 88” – stood for “Bike holder Honda Hornet”, despite it being obvious that these numbers and letters are used in the Nazi scene to signify “Blood and Honour” and “Heil Hitler.” She did, however, have to admit how she came upon her nickname “White Power Mandy” – she had always carried a “White Power” pin on her jacket, thus signifying her commitment towards an extremely militant form of racism

As part and on behalf of the „Blood and Honour“ group in Chemnitz, Struck organized the housing for Zschäpe, Böhnhardt and Mundlos shortly after they had gone underground. As she stated herself, all known persons supporting “the Three” in going underground in Chemnitz were part of “Blood and Honour”. This shows that this support was provided by an existing structure, that it was not, as claimed in the indictment, composed of individual acts of support by various persons.

The Secret Service vs. The Truth

The first witness today was a police detective who had questioned a witness in the Halit Yozgat murder case. The witness had used the phone in the internet café at the time of the murder, had heard the shots but not identified them as such. He had seen one of the perpetrators, but only very vaguely. However, the description given by the witness – a young man, brawny, rather tall – fits Böhnhardt or Mundlos, and they are tied to the crime by a lot of other evidence including the murder weapon and the NSU videos.

The witness was unable to explain why the protocol of that questioning was not in the case file of the Yozgat murder, but was only sent to the court upon its request recently. He was also unable to explain why he had not shown the witness a picture of Andreas Temme, officer of the domestic secret service, in spite of the fact that he was known to have been present at the time of the murder.

In the afternoon, the court questioned Frank Fehling, a former colleague of Temme’s. In a phone call to Temme a few weeks after the murder, Fehling had praised Temme for giving their boss, Mr. Irrgang, a complete rundown of what he remembered rather than only reporting “restrictively” as he had with the police. This phone call was intercepted by the police and thus found its way into the case file against Temme – but not into the NSU case file, and this despite the obvious importance of the fact that Temme knows more about the murder than he had told the police.

Fehling reported that shortly after the arrest of Temme, higher-ups in the office had told him and the other members of the office in Kassel not to answer any questions of the police. At first, he vehemently denied having talked to Temme, stating that he had not wanted to talk to him and had actively tried to keep this from happening. He remained steadfast even when the protocol of the intercepted phone call was read to him. However, once he realized, based on the intense questioning by the presiding judge, that further denials would not be accepted, he stated that it was possible that that phone call had taken place. However, he still denied having talked about Temme’s report to Irrgang.

The same thing happened with regard to further intercepted phone calls between Fehling and Temme during which the two talked about the investigations and Fehling promised to keep Temme informed. Victim’s counsel Kienzle read the protocols to the witness, Fehling claimed not to remember, he had always kept out of the investigation.

Victims’ counsel cannot help but get the impression that secret service officer Fehling lies brazenly in order to hide how the secret service massively disturbed the investigations of the criminal police.

First details concerning André Eminger

Today’s witness was a former girlfriend of André Eminger’s. From 1997 to 1999, she had been in a relationship with him, which she had ended when his right-wing opinions and lifestyle became too extreme for her and cramped her in living her own life. The witness grew up with a stepfather who blamed foreigners for all ills, gave anti-Semitic speeches and glorified the “Third Reich”. Against this background, she had apparent troubles owning up to the political opinions held by her first boyfriend (and to a certain extent by herself). Repeated questioning nonetheless revealed Eminger to be a young National Socialist already back then – Nazi Skinhead music and clothes, Nazi publications, Nazi concerts and demonstrations, xenophobic statements and talk of Germanic gods. Mandy Struck, who will continue her testimony on Thursday, and Max-Florian B. played an important role in his life.

Today, the witness claimed that shortly before the end of the relationship, Eminger had felt that the right wing scene might not be for him anymore. If this conversation, which she had not recalled in her statement to the police, did indeed take place, Eminger obviously did not continue to feel that way.

Together with her boyfriend Eminger, the witness had met “the Three” a few times for coffee in the apartment they used in Chemnitz. She had not been told their identities, only that they had been in hiding. In other words, supporters of Zschäpe, Mundlos and Böhnhardt could simply bring their girlfriends over for coffee – showing once again how many people in Chemnitz knew of their presence. Obviously the entire Nazi scene from Chemnitz was privy to their presence. How the domestic secret service and criminal police nonetheless managed not to find them is becoming harder and harder to understand.

The resigned mother

The testimony of Uwe Mundlos‘ mother was almost exactly the opposite of his father’s: wearily, almost resigned, she described how her son Uwe had slipped from her control as she was entirely occupied with caring for his disabled brother. As to the “flight jacket” he had worn, she had bought it for him since it was so modern and low-maintenance, as to the Nazi brown shirt, she had prohibited him from wearing it. But he still ran around with his Nazi friends and there was no way for her to influence his development. She noticed that he wrote letters to a “comrade” in prison – presumably Thomas Starke, later to become a supporter of “the Three” in Chemnitz and a police informer –, she noticed that he was barred from the concentration camp memorial site in Buchenwald after a Nazi action there – but all this went by her, her influence was marginal at best.

Her son told her that the police had uncovered a garage, that his lawyer had told him to prepare for 7 years‘ imprisonment even though had nothing to do with the weapons and only “paper stuff” of his had been found in the garage. He would have to stay away for ten years and would come back after that time had passed. Thus Mundlos said goodbye to his mother, who never saw him again.

The witness stated that André Kapke had accompanied her son during that last visit. She had also spoken to Juliane Walther twice in that context. Walther has so far denied that these conversations had taken place – she will have to explain herself to the court.

Going underground with „Blood and Honour“, Part I

Today’s witness Thomas Starke, who had provided Mundlos, Böhnhardt and Zschäpe with apartments in Chemnitz after they had gone underground and with explosives before that, refused to testify, as expected, referring to an ongoing investigation against him based on a suspicion of having supported the NSU. However, Starke had testified to the police a total of seven times. Now the content of his testimony there will be introduced via the police officer who had questioned him.

During the several interviews, Starke revised and specified his testimony several times. Accordingly, a final evaluation of his testimony has to wait until all interviews have been introduced. This will take several trial days. Even the testimony regarding the first two interviews could not be finished today as Beate Zschäpe was unable to follow the proceedings, due to fatigue and headaches, from shortly before 4 pm, as the court physician attested.

What has already become clear is that Starke’s testimony clearly describes the network of supporters in Chemnitz and – at least partly – that in Zwickau. “The three” were taken care of by a network mostly made up of supporters of “Blood and Honour”, an international organization which spreads its message of “racial war” through music and concerts. Besides Starke, Thomas Rothe and Mandy Struck, who had been involved in providing other apartments, were “B&H” members. Accordingly, all it took for Starke to provide a shoebox full of TNT to “the three” in 1996/1997 was a phone call to a fellow “B&H” member. According to Starke, the only reason that the bomb built by “the three” – which led to them being searched for and finally going underground – was non-functional is that they were unable to quickly procure a detonator. Starke had also stated that already at that time, quite a while before they had gone underground, Mundlos had asked him for weapons.

He had also reported that he had a short love affair with Zschäpe in 1996/1997. He had been interested in deepening their relationship and moving in together. However, she had only been interested in the two Uwes and in politics and had had no time for the relationship. She had been interested in political discussions, had promoted the NPD and had criticized the “Blood and Honour” scene for not taking part enough in demonstration and political activities.

The network in Chemnitz

Today’s first witness was one of the agents of the domestic secret service who had been responsible for informer Tino Brandt. He stated that he had thought at first that Brandt was trying to dupe them, but that a good routine of day-to-day cooperation had later developed. He had had to “switch off” Brandt because the head of the office, Roewer, had felt that Brandt’s contact agent, Wiessner, was trying to go behind his back. Like last week’s secret service witnesses, today’s witness will have to return to Munich to testify again after Brandt has testified.

The court then questioned Thomas Rothe, who provided the first flat to “the Three” after they had gone underground. He first tried to stonewall with statements like “They appeared at my door, later they spent the night.” Patient questioning revealed that Rothe was a member of the Nazi music scene in Chemnitz and often had members of international Nazi bands as houseguests. He stated that Mundlos, Böhnhardt and Zschäpe not only lived with him for a while, but that he also continued to meet them, both in Chemnitz and in Zwickau, after they had moved out and until 2001.

He had been brought into contact with “the Three” by Thomas Starke, who had appeared at his door with them and asked him to allow them to move in for a while. Starke had also called him and talked about a TV report concerning the manhunt, stating that “you know who you have there.” Rothe admitted having been a member of “Blood and Honour”, the Nazi organization of which Starke was also a member and from whose ranks came many of the NSU supporters in Saxony. Thomas Starke will testify on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the presiding judge asked a number of questions regarding “Blood and Honour” even though the indictment only mentions that organization in passing. However, the witness refused to answer questions concerning other “B&H” members: After the presiding judge had threatened him with an administrative fine and coercive detention for refusing to answer, he referred to a criminal investigation against him regarding his “B&H” activities, which had only been discontinued in 2010 on the grounds of “minor guilt.” Rothe claimed a privilege against self-incrimination in connection with that investigation. The presiding judge interrupted his testimony in order to find out whether that privilege applies, which will require taking a look at the case file of that investigation. The witness will likely face considerable pressure from the court when he continues his testimony.

 “It is just a board game”- informer and contact officer

Today the court first finished the questioning of Juliane Walther which had begun yesterday. She continued her brazen game of on the one hand feigning memory gaps, on the other hand presenting herself and her comrades as the main victims of the press and a leftwing public. The highlight of her testimony was marked by her recollection of an evening playing “Pogromly” with Wohlleben, Gerlach, Mundlos, Böhnhardt and Zschäpe, which the witness recalls as the height of Normalcy: “It is just a board game, … it was just like playing a normal game.”

She was followed by Mr. Wießner, former contact officer for “Thuringia Home Guard”-leader Tino Brandt for the domestic secret service in Thuringia and now retired. His testimony today remained superficial, he will be called to testify again after Brandt’s testimony and was only asked to provide an overview today: Brandt had been recruited as an informer in 1994 and had been “switched off” for a short time in 2000 and for good in 2001. Brandt was always cooperative, would have done anything for money. He was the most important source regarding the extreme right, without Brandt the office would have been unable to provide decent information on that sector. (Of course, the fact that an office of the domestic secret service bases its political judgments solely on the testimony of an informer is in itself reason enough to shut down that agency.)

Wießner also stated that Andreas Rachhausen, who had driven back to Jena the car with which “the Three” had fled to Saxonia, as well as Juliane Walther had also provided information to him.

The testimony of Mr. Zweigert, Wießner’s substitute who had also been in contact with Brandt several times, was even shorter – he was sent home for now after he had shown no attempt to recall what had happened during these contacts.

Lies and Trivialization, Part 5 – Juliane Walther

Today’s witness was Juliane Walther, Ralf Wohllebens’s girlfriend at the time when Böhnhardt, Mundlos and Zschäpe went underground. After the police had found their bomb workshop, Böhnhardt and another “comrade” came to Walther’s vocational school, drove with her to Erfurt to warn Wohlleben, then back to Jena where she went into Zschäpe’s apartment to fetch some clothes for Zschäpe. She also tried to fetch clothes for Mundlos from his parents’ apartment, but she was met there by the police, who were just beginning to search the apartment and who used her as a witness to that search.

Her questioning was even more tedious than that of most witnesses from the right-wing scene. The witness claimed not to remember much at all. Presiding judge Götzl made more than clear to her that he did not buy her explanations – all the more because Walther had made a quite extensive statement to the police in 2011. The Zschäpe and Wohlleben defences tried several times to interrupt the questioning with senseless objections when the witness was under pressure by questions from court and victims’ counsel.

Walther remained steadfast in her claims to remember anything and tried to position herself as victim of those questioning her, who she claimed tried to confuse her, and of the press. Especially with regard to questions by victims’ counsel, she apparently felt that it was her position to decide whether questions had to be answered or not, which led to her being admonished by the presiding judge.

Asked about the ideological background of “the Three”, Wohlleben and Kapke, she also answered evasively, stating that they had been “a touch right wing”. She claims not to have seen anything remarkable in Zschäpe’s apartment, which according to her had been “totally normal” – it is known from other witness statements that there had been a Swastika flag on the living room wall.

The witness did relate that she had played the “Pogromly”- Spiel with Böhnhardt, Mundlos, Zschäpe, Holger Gerlach and Wohlleben. As in the rest of her statement, the witness did not distance herself from the disgusting anti-Semitic contents of that game. It seems that she is not currently engaged in active Nazi politics, and she describes herself as a “follower” – but she is also not willing to accept any responsibility on her part or that of her former friends for the NSU murders.

From the point of view of victims’ counsel, it is to be welcomed that the court has stopped accepting the “memory gaps” claimed by witnesses from the right wing scene.

Walther’s testimony will be concluded tomorrow morning.

The testimony of Max-Florian B. incriminates Zschäpe and Eminger

Today’s trial day was entirely devoted to introducing the testimony of NSU supporter Max-Florian B. via the police officers who had questioned him – B himself refused to testify in court.

Max-Florian B. is an important witness for the prosecution because he was involved in an important part of the NSU’s development after Zschäpe, Böhnhardt and Mundlos had gone underground. The importance to the court can be measured by the fact that presiding judge Götzl not only had both officers testify at length on their own, but also read out practically the entire minutes of his earlier questionings and had them confirm their content.

In the beginning, „the Three“ lived in B.‘s apartment and he lived with his girlfriend Mandy Struck, after the end of his relationship to Struck, all four lived in his apartment. But even after they had moved out, and even until 2009/2010, long after B. had apparently left the Nazi scene, B continued to occasionally meet with them or talk on the phone. In these calls and meetings, “the Three” casually asked about developments in his life, likely in order to be able to continue his identity – Mundlos had used a passport in B.’s name. B. also provided them with documents, such as letters from a bank where Mundlos had opened an account using the passport in B.’s name.

In several meetings with the police, B. has shown quite vividly that Beate Zschäpe was a member of the group on an equal footing with the two men, as can be seen with regard to her statements concerning a propaganda crime in 1996 consisting of the hanging of a puppet with the word “Jew” on its chest from a highway bridge and the dropping of a mock bomb: Zschäpe had stated that she had not been involved in the actual [Durchführung] as she lacked the necessary strength, but that she had been fully involved in the planning of this and other actions. After B.’s statement, it can be seen as established that Zschäpe was a full-fledged member of the group – not least because the first band robbery took place while the Three were still living in Chemnitz, showing that the group took the step towards armed actions in the situation described by B.

B. had also stated to the police that Thomas Starke, the Fiedler brothers and the group around them had been some of the main supporters in that phase. Starke had already provided the Three with explosives earlier, using his “Blood and Honour” contacts. Interestingly, Starke was an informer of the Berlin criminal police from 2000 to 2005. He will testify next week.

However, B.‘s testimony incriminates not only Zschäpe, but also his co-accused André Eminger. B. had stated that Eminger had visitied „The Three“ at least three times in his apartment. They had discussed the possibility of his providing an identity document, but had decided against doing so for reasons B. could not relate. Eminger had been a topic of conversation whenever B. had spoken with Böhnhardt and Mundlos, they had given him information regarding André Eminger, his kids, his job and his Tattoo of the words “Die Jew Die”. B had had assumed that Eminger had lived close to the “Three” as he had often visited them. In 2011, Eminger had called B. and had known information regarding B. which he could only have gotten from “the Three”.

All in all, Max-Florian B.‘s statements leave the obvious impression that Eminger had been closely connected to “the Three” after they had gone underground and had supported them early on.

Another important aspect of B’s testimony concerned the end of the stay of Böhnhardt, Mundlos and Zschäpe in Chemnitz. Apparently there had been a number of discussions concerning the fact that their presence in Chemnitz was well-known in the “scene” and they thus had to move. Given the number of informers in the scene at that time, this cannot have escaped the notice of the domestic secret service.

Kapke reveals his true colors

The third day of questioning of André Kapke, co-founder of the “Thuringia Home Guard” and NSU-supporter from the early days, finally brought clarity concerning the ideological background of the THS, both before and after Böhnhardt, Mundlos and Zschäpe went underground. The deadly hatred against non-Germans, the enthusiasm for the mass murder of the European Jews which became apparent in the activities of the THS was also shared by Zschäpe and Wohlleben, as Kapke’s answers in court show.

Kapke’s testimony also showed that Wohlleben has not changed into a “moderate nationalist”, as his defence is trying to imply, but that he had been involved in National Socialist propaganda until shortly before his arrest.

What finally made it impossible for Kapke to play down his ideology was a series of photos of the “Fest der Völker” (“Festival of Peoples”), a political festical with music bands, political talks and visitors from all over Europe which Kapke and Wohlleben had organized together over several years. He was unable to lie away pictures of the main stage with a banner showing Waffen SS men marching under the flags of several nations, even though he rambled on about “peace in Europe.”

The list of speakers and bands which appeared at the “Fest der Völker” between 2005 and 2009, also speaks for itself: the main stage was filled with everybody who was somebody in the fascist and National Socialist movement in Europe, including a large number of “Blood and Honour” bands. The “Fest der Völker” – the title is based in a film of Hitler’s favorite director Leni Riefenstahl on the 1936 Berlin Olympics – brings together those groups whose members are involved in spreading hatred against migrants, Jews and supposed or actual political opponents and often also in attacks and murders perpetrated against these groups. In addition, it should be noted that many of the known supporters of the NSU also come from a “Blood and Honour”-background.

This trial day thus clearly refuted Kapke’s attempts to depict the THS as a group of youths concerned about the environment and generally “opposed to the system”.