Berlin: criminal complaint after neo-Nazi buried in a Jewish grave – panorama
A neo-Nazi is buried next to a Jewish musicologist in Berlin. The outrage is great.
Stahnsdorf, Berlin – The burial of a neo-Nazi in the grave of a Jewish musicologist in the Protestant south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf causes outrage. The Berlin anti-Semitism commissioner Samuel Salzborn has criminal charges on suspicion of disturbing the peace of the dead, denigrating the memory of the deceased and sedition, the Senate Department for Justice announced on Tuesday in Berlin. According to the regional church, the Protestant bishop Christian Stäblein interrupted because of the fall of his vacation.
“The burial of a Holocaust denier on the grave of Max Friedlaender is a terrible mistake and a shocking process in view of our history,” quotes the bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia: “We have to see immediately whether and what we can undo can do.”
The south-west cemetery, opened in 1909, belongs to the Protestant regional church, whose bishop Stäblein has been for around two years. The remains of the neo-Nazi Henry Hafenmayer from North Rhine-Westphalia were buried there last Friday. Numerous right-wing extremists took part in the funeral service, including the anti-Semite Horst Mahler, who had been imprisoned for a long time for sedition.
“The intention here is obvious that right-wing extremists deliberately chose a Jewish grave in order to disrupt the peace of the dead by burying a Holocaust denier,” report Salzborn: He reported a complaint to the police in Brandenburg.
The reburial of the Holocaust denier is under consideration
Salzborn emphasized that the Protestant regional church was also “in a constructive exchange” about the consequences of the incident. It must be checked whether and, if so, how quickly the Holocaust denier can be reburied in order not to disturb the worthy memory of the musicologist Max Friedlaender any longer. Salzborn has been the contact for the State of Berlin on anti-Semitism since 2020.
The more than 200 hectare south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf is Germany’s largest Protestant cemetery. It is located south of Berlin in Brandenburg between Potsdam and Teltow, but belongs to Berlin under canon law.
After the case became known, the regional church called the selection of the former grave of Max Friedlaender (1852-1934) for the burial on Monday as a mistake. The funeral was not accompanied by Protestants. A church spokeswoman said that the decision not to refuse the request for a grave was made in the church administration in the consistory: “EVERYONE is in charge of the principle that people have a right to a final resting place.” The first request for a grave was from the cemetery management has been rejected.