A chilling connection has been made between the pattern of murders carried out by a neo-Nazi cell in Germany and the group’s own logo.
A member of the committee investigating the background to the racist killings by the National Socialist Underground (NSU) has said that when the locations of the 10 killings are plotted on a map of Germany and connecting lines are drawn between them they form the NSU’s logo.
Joachim Stamp, of the liberal Free Democrats, who sits on the parliamentary committee, told the Bild newspaper (in German): “We joined up all the NSU crime scenes and crimes involving explosive devices on a map. The result is an almost perfect NSU logo.”
The logo showing pink letters on a black background was used in films in which the NSU claimed responsibility for the killings, saying they were going “on a tour of Germany”.
Killer-Nazis - Politiker entdeckt Mord-Muster der #NSU http://t.co/pFU19ei4rx pic.twitter.com/X1FO9Pj8ff
— BILD Top-News (@BILD_TopNews) April 27, 2015
What is questionable about Stamp’s suggestion is that no murder is known to have been carried out in the area of Berlin or Magdeburg, which would have allowed a connecting line to be drawn between eastern Germany and the western city of Kassel.
Stamp admitted that his theory remained questionable, but in a case in which more questions have been raised than answered so far, it is likely to be the focus of closer investigation.
“It might all be just a pure coincidence,” he said. “But it could also be that in the area around the missing point, a crime was carried out which has yet to be attributed to the NSU.”
It might also indicate that the group had planned a further crime or crimes, but did not carry them out, he said.
The NSU was able to continue with its killing spree because of the authorities’ reported lack of willingness to see a possible connection between the murders of mostly immigrants – including eight Turks, a Greek and a policeman – between 2000 and 2007. There was widespread insistence that the murders were isolated cases sparked by disputes within immigrant communities and it took years before the idea of a neo-Nazi motive was given any sort of credence.
The leader of the NSU, Beate Zschäpe, is currently on trial in Munich in a case that is almost into its third year with no sign of ending. She has remained silent throughout.
The two men believed to have founded the NSU with her, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, set their caravan on fire and killed themselves in 2011 after a bank robbery went wrong. Zschäpe turned herself into the police.
The existence of the group came to light for the first time when the gun used in all 10 killings was found in the wreck of the caravan, along with the DVD in which they claimed responsibility for the murders. In the film the bodies of the murder victims are depicted, while a cartoon Pink Panther figure adds up the number of dead.
