PRIZE-WINNERS*

The arson attack on a refugee shelter in Hamburg, in which two young men from Vietnam died in August 1980, was the first racist murder in the Federal Republic. The three perpetrators are seen as precursors to the NSU. But the act itself has all but disappeared from public consciousness. The authors reconstruct what happened and its consequences, 40 years later. Survivors, friends and relatives are given a voice in powerful quotes.

The seahorse has provided the name for the part of the brains that acts as a gateway to our memories: the hippocampus. It is used to archive things we cannot forget, pleasant and unpleasant memories alike. The young Yazidi woman Hannan could not swim when she crossed the Mediterranean with her family in an inflatable boat. Now she is learning how not to sink, just like a seahorse. But the fear of drowning in the dark waters remains alive in her memory.

Thilo Mischke and his team spent a year researching in the radical right-wing scene. How do the organisations work in this segment of society? How do they recruit new members? How much do they have in common and where do they differ? And how much of a threat do they present to the rule of law and democracy? The brutal statement by a former functionary of the AfD Party leaves no room for doubt: It is a huge threat, bent on destruction and murder

Ezequiel is an expert in martial arts and would like to teach capoeira. But as a Black man with an immigrant background, he is forced to accept whichever job offers he gets: “monument care”. In plain language: cleaning public urinals at night. He doesn’t dare tell either his wife or his son Stevie about it. Stevie should go to university and embark on a promising career. That’s what Ezequiel thinks. But Stevie has other plans: he wants to be a hairdresser.

It is an everyday experience, especially for BPOC: somebody takes the liberty of touching their hair. Just like that, permission taken for granted. But it is still a gesture of marginalisation, with the message: you are different. The COSMO team turned the tables and asked people on the street if they could touch their hair. The response was lively and instructive.

This brief report tells the story of two fathers brought together by the terrorist attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. Georges Salines lost his daughter Lola in the November 2015 bloodbath; Azdyne Amimour’s son Samy was one of the Islamist terrorists shot dead by police. In an attempt to come to terms with the horror, the two men forge a kind of friendship. Together, they write a book entitled: “Il nous reste les mots” (Uns bleiben nur die Worte – For us, what’s left are just words).

The small village of Weikendorf in Lower Austria is thrown into turmoil in summer 2019 when a Palestinian family of eleven decides to buy a house. The mayor refuses to approve the purchase, and a citizens’ initiative to prevent them from coming gains traction. But the inhabitants of Weikendorf reject being labelled as racists in the media. The family father writes to senior figures in Austrian politics, but to no avail. A protracted legal dispute ensues.

Parvis, Kind wohlhabender iranischer Einwanderer*innen führt ein behütetes Leben. Er langweilt sich in der Provinz und möchte etwas erleben, sucht nach einem Kick. Schließlich begeht er einen Ladendiebstahl und muss Sozialstunden als Übersetzer in einer Unterkunft für Geflüchtete leisten. Dort freundet er sich mit den iranischen Geschwistern Banafshe und Amon an. Zwischen ihm und Amon entwickelt sich eine Liebe. Doch allen Beteiligten ist klar: Sie leben in ganz unterschiedlichen Welten.