“He was killed by a racist – and the racism continues.” This is how Armin Kurtović describes the period after the right-wing extremist attack on February 19 2020 in Hanau wherein his son Hamza and eight other people with migration backgrounds were murdered. DAS DEUTSCHE VOLK is told from the perspective of those affected, showing the consequences of the crime and the fight against the institutional racism that enabled it. Director Marcin Wierzchowski followed them for around three years with a camera, from the scene of the crime in Hanau to the family’s countries of origin.
It was the “darkest day” in post-war history of the city of Hanau, is uttered in one of the many memorial services. But when it comes to the loved ones wanting to erect a memorial for the dead at the market place, the solidarity reaches its limits. The survivors firmly reject the oft-used phrase that the attack was “an attack on all of us.” To this day, the negligence of the Nazi-dominated Hessian police, a perpetrator-centered justice system, and hypocritical politicians stand in the way of the investigation.
DAS DEUTSCHE VOLK makes it clear how diverse the dead and their families were and are in terms of their living conditions, religion, backgrounds, and personalities. As you watch, you feel humbled by the great trust that those affected must have placed in the film crew: they allowed the camera to participate in intimate mourning rituals and prayers (both Christian and Muslim), in the meetings of those with a shared fate, and in their fight for justice. Together they don’t only share about their unimaginable pain, but also admonish and call on the German majority society to face up to its own complicity in the night of the Hanau murders.

Eva Szulkowski

Translation: Elinor Lewy