Two young people die in a regional train because a man attacks them with a knife. They are remembered at a service. The crime reignited the debate about delinquent asylum seekers. “We will never accept that something like this happens in our country,” said Chancellor Scholz.
Hundreds of people commemorated the victims of the deadly knife attack in a Schleswig-Holstein regional train at an ecumenical service in Neumünster. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther, Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher and numerous other state politicians also attended the ceremony in the Vicelinkirche in the early afternoon. In Neumünster, those killed in the crime, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old young man, attended vocational school.
The Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church had jointly invited to the service. “What happened at Brokstedt overwhelms and exceeds our imagination,” Archbishop Stefan Hess said, according to the previously published text of the speech. “A service like this doesn’t undo anything. The souls of many people will be sore for a long time. But praying together and remembering things together carry us.” The great sympathy is overwhelming and encouraging, said the Archbishop. Society must remain in dialogue. “That’s why we prayed today especially for cohesion in the towns and villages.”
The alleged perpetrator, a 33-year-old Palestinian, is in custody on two counts of murder and four counts of attempted manslaughter. Five people were injured in the knife attack on January 25, three of them critically. According to Chancellor Scholz, deeds like Brokstedt’s will never be accepted. “We will never accept that something like this happens in our country,” the SPD politician said before the funeral service at a state party conference of the Schleswig-Holstein SPD in Husum. Two young people had become innocent victims of a completely crazy act.
Regarding the debate about the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers, Scholz said in this context that it shouldn’t always just be talked about. Those who cannot successfully claim protection in Germany would have to return to their countries of origin. “This is central to guaranteeing asylum,” said Scholz. In order for the countries concerned to take back their citizens, very specific agreements are necessary. “I will also do everything to ensure that it is not just an effort by Germany, but that we in Europe act together.”
