Commemoration invitation

25 years ago, on February 8, 1997, 17-year-old Frank Böttcher was killed by a neo-Nazi of the same age. He was attacked because the perpetrator felt provoked - by the young punk's haircut and clothes. He had to die because neo-Nazis declared minorities and alternative youth cultures to be the enemy. This and the continuity of misanthropy and right-wing violence will be commemorated on Feb. 8, 2022, with two events at 4 p.m. (memorial rally) and 7 p.m. (online talk).

Memorial rally

For Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at 4 pm, the Alliance Against Right Magdeburg invites together with us at the memorial stone at the stop "Klinikum Olvenstedt" to the memory of Frank Böttcher. The rally will take place in compliance with the valid hygiene regulations. Participants are asked to test themselves in advance, to ensure sufficient distance and to wear a mouth guard.

Online talk about right-wing violence in Magdeburg

In cooperation with the Stadtteilladen Mitmischen and the Bündnis gegen Rechts Magdeburg we shed light on the circumstances of the fatal attack on Frank Böttcher Tat and the time in which this happened. A right-wing extremist youth culture dominated eastern Germany at that time and exercised violence against people who did not fit into their worldview in a way that many cannot imagine today. What happened after the death of Frank Böttcher? What were the direct and indirect consequences? We will discuss all of this on February 8 at 7 p.m. in an online talk with David Begrich and other contemporary witnesses*. All information and access to the event can be found on the Facebook event page.

We thank the Stadtteilladen for the initiative and for organizing the evening event.

Background

The 17-year-old punk Frank Böttcher is stabbed to death on February 8, 1997. The day before, he is bitten by his white pet rat "Speedy" and decides after midnight to take the streetcar to the hospital in Neu-Olvenstedt to have the bite treated there. Already on the way he is mobbed by three Nazi kinheads and insulted as a "tick". After treatment, Frank Böttcher leaves the hospital and walks back to the streetcar stop about a hundred meters away. There, a youth finds him on the sidewalk around 4 a.m.: covered in blood, with seven stab wounds and a fractured skull base. Frank Böttcher dies around 5:30 a.m. in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

25 years have passed since then. 25 years in which the commitment against racism and right-wing extremism achieved important successes. But even today, hatred and right-wing violence are part of everyday life - on the streets and in social media. Human dignity and the liberality of political culture are still being challenged. The BgR Magdeburg remember Frank Böttcher and at the same time set a sign for an open and democratic society, in which everyone* can live without fear.