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| Beate Zschäpe |
I morgon inleds en av de mest uppmärksammade rättegångarna i modern tid i Tyskland. Det gäller rättegången mot den nazistiska terrorgruppen NSU:s enda överlevande medlem Beate Zschäpe. Hon åtalas för mord på tio människor.
Zschäpes terrorcell misstänks under en sexårsperiod ha mördat tio personer runt om i Tyskland, de flesta av dem av turkiskt ursprung. De övriga två cellmedlemmarna hittades döda efter ett misslyckat bankrån 2011. Samma dag greps Zschäpe.
DER SPIEGEL
Formative Early Years
Zschäpe was born in Jena in January 1975. Her mother hadn't planned to have a baby. She became pregnant while studying dentistry in Romania. Her father is believed to be a Romanian student, who refused to acknowledge paternity. Zschäpe's mother left the baby with her parents in Jena and returned to her studies. Within a year, she married a childhood friend from Jena, who took care of the infant. But she divorced him as soon as she had completed her studies, remarrying and moving in with her new husband in his hometown of Camburg in Thuringia. Once again, the baby was left with its grandparents. This marriage also failed. Beate Zschäpe was five years old before she finally got to live with her mother.
They never managed to make up for the lost time. At first, they shared a cramped one-room apartment in the Lobeda district of Jena and later moved to the neighborhood of Winzerla. It was here, in a youth club, that Beate first encountered Uwe Mundlos, the son of a college professor.
They became a couple in 1993, getting engaged and immersing themselves in the local far-right scene. Eventually, she left him for Uwe Böhnhardt. Two years younger than her, he was the son of an engineer and a teacher -- and a fervent neo-Nazi.
"My daughter's political views were not the only reason for our estrangement, but they were a major cause," Zschäpe's mother told the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). She described their relationship as "tense" and characterized by a lack of mutual affection and interest. Nevertheless, she also said that her daughter never made xenophobic, far-right comments in her presence. She was shocked when the police raided their home in 1996, recalling that it was only then that she realized the extent of her daughter's involvement in the neo-Nazi scene.
Zschäpe allegedly had a number of affairs with far-right extremists while she was training as a gardener, despite her relationship with Böhnhardt. Nevertheless, the couple and Mundlos were said to be inseparable. Together, they would visit Zschäpe's mother and grandmother, Mundlos bringing flowers and Böhnhardt wearing operating room slippers over his polished combat boots -- they were too much work to unlace.
Terror Trial - neo-Nazi Beate Zschäpe charged with murder :
DER SPIEGEL
Formative Early Years
Zschäpe was born in Jena in January 1975. Her mother hadn't planned to have a baby. She became pregnant while studying dentistry in Romania. Her father is believed to be a Romanian student, who refused to acknowledge paternity. Zschäpe's mother left the baby with her parents in Jena and returned to her studies. Within a year, she married a childhood friend from Jena, who took care of the infant. But she divorced him as soon as she had completed her studies, remarrying and moving in with her new husband in his hometown of Camburg in Thuringia. Once again, the baby was left with its grandparents. This marriage also failed. Beate Zschäpe was five years old before she finally got to live with her mother.
They never managed to make up for the lost time. At first, they shared a cramped one-room apartment in the Lobeda district of Jena and later moved to the neighborhood of Winzerla. It was here, in a youth club, that Beate first encountered Uwe Mundlos, the son of a college professor.
They became a couple in 1993, getting engaged and immersing themselves in the local far-right scene. Eventually, she left him for Uwe Böhnhardt. Two years younger than her, he was the son of an engineer and a teacher -- and a fervent neo-Nazi.
"My daughter's political views were not the only reason for our estrangement, but they were a major cause," Zschäpe's mother told the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). She described their relationship as "tense" and characterized by a lack of mutual affection and interest. Nevertheless, she also said that her daughter never made xenophobic, far-right comments in her presence. She was shocked when the police raided their home in 1996, recalling that it was only then that she realized the extent of her daughter's involvement in the neo-Nazi scene.
Zschäpe allegedly had a number of affairs with far-right extremists while she was training as a gardener, despite her relationship with Böhnhardt. Nevertheless, the couple and Mundlos were said to be inseparable. Together, they would visit Zschäpe's mother and grandmother, Mundlos bringing flowers and Böhnhardt wearing operating room slippers over his polished combat boots -- they were too much work to unlace.
Terror Trial - neo-Nazi Beate Zschäpe charged with murder :
