Extremism: Honored: Memorial service for murdered CDU politician

At a memorial ceremony in Kassel’s St. Martin’s Church, around 1,000 invited guests honored the murdered CDU politician Walter Lübcke. As guest of honor, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the former Kassel district president, who was shot dead by a right-wing extremist five years ago. “We all wish Walter Lübcke could continue to be what he was until June 2, 2019: an upright democrat who took responsibility. A politician who stood up for himself, a friendly, curious fellow human being. A hero of action,” he said.

Lübcke paid for his upright stance as a democrat and his commitment to the community with his life. Steinmeier described the murder as a right-wing extremist act of terror. “Walter Lübcke died in our midst, as one of us. The crime was aimed at him, but it was also aimed at us as a society.” The CDU politician had to die because he defended the values ​​that make up our society. “That is why this murder concerns us all and must never let us rest.”

Steinmeier: “Where hatred is spread, opposition is required”

Steinmeier called for unity in the fight against right-wing terror. Right-wing extremism is not something that simply disappears. “Every day we see attempts to use words to shift the scale of decency, the consensus of our words. And too often, too often, this attempt succeeds.” The terrible result of this is violence. “Especially these days, we read and hear almost every day that politically active people and elected officials are being physically attacked. We must not get used to violence in political debates,” warned Steinmeier. Because violence sows fear and silences the people that a democracy needs.

Where hatred is spread, opposition is required, stressed Steinmeier. Everyone has a responsibility that they can take on. He is convinced that the majority in this country stands behind democratic values, said the Federal President.

The Lübcke family and relatives of victims of the right-wing extremist terrorist cell National Socialist Underground (NSU) in Kassel also took part in the memorial ceremony, which was initiated by the Evangelical Church Community of Kassel-Mitte, the Kassel Regional Council and the democracy initiative “Open for Diversity”. Numerous politicians, including Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) and his cabinet, also attended.

Lübcke was shot in the head at close range on the night of June 2, 2019 by right-wing extremist Stephan E. on his terrace in Wolfhagen-Istha in northern Hesse. His motive: rejection of the then district president’s liberal stance on refugee policy. The perpetrator is serving a life sentence. The crime is considered the first politically motivated murder of a German politician by a neo-Nazi.