Ian Birrell

Why are the German authorities so reluctant to believe in neo-Nazi attacks?

When two fascist skinheads were seen fleeing from the murders of several Turkish shopkeepers in Nuremberg, the police continued to blame the ‘Turkish mafia’

Neo-Nazi demonstrators at a May Day parade in Germany in 2017. [Getty Images] 
issue 18 May 2024

Enver Simsek’s life story was one familiar to many migrants. He moved from Turkey to a small town in Germany, then worked hard in a factory during the week and as a cleaner at weekends before starting his own business as a florist. By the turn of this century, he employed almost a dozen people selling his blooms from stalls and stands across Bavaria. So in the summer of 2000, he took his wife and two teenage children back to his native land for a break. Soon after returning, the 38-year-old was shot eight times in the head and shoulder, left dying in a pool of blood amid the bouquets of baby’s breath, daisies and roses in his van parked in Nuremberg.

As Simsek’s life ebbed away in hospital, his distraught family faced a barrage of questions from police.

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