The racist attack in Hanau is known throughout Germany and remains a key aspect of the discourse on racism and right-wing terror owing to the work of the families, relatives, survivors and their supporters, including solidarity initiatives. One of the victims in Hanau on 19 February 2020 was Ferhat Unvar, a 23-year-old trained heating engineer, a native of Hanau and Kesselstadt.
Ferhat’s murder and the murders of Vili Viorel Păun, Mercedes Kierpacz, Fatih Saraçoğlu, Sedat Gürbüz, Kaloyan Velkov, Said Nesar Hashemi, Gökhan Gültekin, and Hamza Kurtović left the community in Hanau as well as their families, relatives, friends, and acquaintances deeply shaken and traumatised. After the attack, Serpil Temiz Unvar had to decide whether she would ‘mix her anger and pain with hate’ or not. She decided against it. Her goal is not retribution, but to create positive change.
Based on her own life experiences and the experiences of her children in the German school system, Serpil Unvar recognised that many families experience both structural and everyday racism, particularly through the institution of the school. Negative comments, complicated structures, and little support for migrant families are just some of the problems that Serpil Temiz Unvar seeks to address. After 19 February, it was clear to her that remaining silent about racist structures was no longer an option.
Waiting for politicians to bring about change is also no longer an option. The key clearly lies in migrant self-organisation, because only the migrant community knows what its members need. The teenagers and young adults of Hanau must be involved in shaping the ‘healing process’ themselves. A space must be created in which they can talk about their problems and experiences; a space that allows them to develop their own voice, name problems, and work out solutions. The Ferhat Unvar Educational Initiative offers this space.
Our thoughts are with the relatives, friends, and survivors in Hanau, and we honour their memory:
Ferhat Unvar
Vili Viorel Păun
Mercedes Kierpacz
Fatih Saraçoğlu
Sedat Gürbüz
Kaloyan Velkov
Said Nesar Hashemi
Gökhan Gültekin
and Hamza Kurtović.
The commitment of their families, relatives, and friends, as well as the survivors of the attack, remains crucial in coming to terms with the crime and honouring the memory of those killed. Their work has given rise to the Initiative 19 February Hanau and the Ferhat Unvar Educational Initiative, among others.
