Twenty-five years ago, the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terror group, began a series of murders targeting businesspeople in Germany with Turkish or Greek origins. Murders were committed throughout the country with the same weapon, but, for years, the killings remained unsolved. Instead, investigators focused on the victims and their families.

The first murder victim was the flower vendor Enver Simsek, on September 9, 2000.

DW spoke with Gamze Kubasık, the daughter of Mehmet Kubasik, another of the NSU's victims.

DW: Ms. Kubasık, your father, Mehmet Kubasık, was shot dead in his kiosk in Dortmund on April 4, 2006, becoming the eighth victim of the NSU. How do you feel today?

Gamze Kubasık: My father's murder will stay with me until I die, the pain of his loss. But I am fighting for my father. I will continue to do so until my father, my family, and all the other families get justice.

Your family are Kurdish Alevis. Your parents fled Turkey with you for Germany. Your brothers were born in Dortmund. What kind of man was your father?

My father had a great sense of humor, which is why he was very popular with the people here. When I went into town with my father, I had the feeling that everyone knew him because he was always being greeted and hugged. That made me very proud.

My father was a fan of the local soccer club, Borussia Dortmund. When Dortmund played, he always said: "Today, my homeland is playing."

With your friend Semiya Simsek, who was only 14 when her father was shot dead, you have written a book for young adults, recounting the murders and what you experienced. Translated, into English the title is "Our Pain Is Our Strength: Neo-Nazis Murdered Our Fathers." Why did you write this book?

I work in political education, going into schools where I talk about my father's murder, about the NSU, its crimes, and the false accusations against our families. The students know little about the victims, which makes me sad.

It was important to me that young people know that this was one of the greatest crimes in our country. I want to make it clear that it could happen to anyone at any time. There is little educational material available, and schools have hardly anything on the NSU.

What do you experience on your book tours?

It's nice to hear from people who say they've never read such a powerful book, with such strong emotions. We wanted readers to feel what we felt back then: pain, loss, grief, but also know about the struggle we fought.

How did the police treat you?

It was the worst time of my life. The day after my father was murdered, we were picked up by the police. I was questioned separately from my mother. They asked me whether my father had taken drugs or sold drugs to young people, whether he had anything to do with the mafia. I sat there for seven hours. The only thing I could say was, "No, my father would never do such a thing."

My mother was terribly upset. She was asked the same questions and accused of things such as maybe my father had an affair with another woman, and then my mother found out and was to blame for the murder.

Neighbors and others believed the rumors that my father had sold drugs to young people. I was cursed at on the street. People told me I should die just like the children my father had poisoned with drugs. People crossed the street when they saw us. Many of my friends were no longer allowed to talk to me.

Your father was the eighth murder victim; two days later, Halit Yozgat was shot dead in Kassel. What did that mean for your fight against the false suspicions?

The Yozgat family organized a demonstration in Kassel. That's when the fight began, so we also organized a demonstration in Dortmund because people were talking badly about us.

At some point, it became so bad for me that I just didn't leave my apartment or my room for a year and had to give up my education.

The support we had hoped for was not there before the demonstrations, and it was not there afterwards.

It wasn't until 2011 that the NSU terror was revealed: two neo-Nazis were found burned to death in a motorhome, after which their accomplice sent the police a cynical confession video with photos of the murder victims. It became clear that these were racist murders. How did you feel?

I was very, very relieved. I found out who my father's murderers were. I would describe it as having carried such a heavy burden with me all these years — on that day, I was able to stand up straight again.

Of course, I also felt a great deal of anger, because like all the other families, my mother said early on that it could have been Nazis who murdered my husband. Semiya's mother also told the police this, and so did all the other families. We know this from the files. We were not taken seriously all these years.

How do you look back on the trial of NSU terrorists in Munich that took place between 2013 and 2018?

Before the trial, we held a memorial service with our then chancellor, Ms. Merkel. We were promised that the crimes would be fully investigated.

I went to Munich hoping that we would get answers to the many unanswered questions. Unfortunately, such questions still preoccupy me today: Could my father's murder have been prevented? Are there other accomplices or supporters in Dortmund who are still at large?

How safe do you feel today?

Germany is my homeland, and Dortmund is my home. Because I have my friends, family, and wonderful people around me who support me, I can say that I feel safe in the community here in Dortmund, where I live.

But the fact is that I feel uneasy when I'm out on my own and think: You could meet someone here who was involved in your father's murder, who may have aided and abetted.

The main defendant in the NSU trial, Beate Zschäpe, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, has now been accepted into a neo-Nazi exit program. You and your two other daughters started a petition against this. Why?

It was one of those slaps in the face that we have had to endure all these years. We started the petition to say that this is not right. My mother and I are among the few who have followed the trial for five years. In those five years, I saw no remorse, no glance, no apology, no word — not even later from prison.

We know that she was supported by the far-right scene and that she had contacts. It's obvious that she's just exploiting the exit program so she can get out of prison faster.

Do you worry about right-wing extremist attacks in Germany, such as inHanau in 2020, or the electoral successes of the far-right Alternative for Germany(AfD), which is in part classified as far-right extremist?

The shift to the right in our country is very noticeable. After the NSU murders, we warned that, unless political action were taken, further attacks would occur. We don't want any family to have to go through what we went through. My mother said this every time she met with lawmakers, the federal president, or the chancellor.

Your son bears the name of his grandfather, Mehmet. How did you explain to him what happened to his grandfather?

All these years, I thought I was prepared. But when my son Mehmet finally asked, "What happened to my grandfather?" I wasn't able to explain it to him, so my husband did so instead.

Today, I can talk to my son about it. He asks what kind of person my father was, but also about the murder. He doesn't understand it and can't accept it.

It's nice for me that he carries my father in his heart, even though he never knew him. He is proud to bear his name. He attends the memorial services and the Mehmet Kubasık Children's Festival, and he participates in the Mehmet Kubasık Soccer Cup for children and young people.

He said to me: "Mom, the title of your book suits you really well. ‘Our pain is our strength' — you have enormous pain inside you because your dad was murdered, but when you speak to people on behalf of my grandpa, you just wipe away your tears and then you are really strong."

What do you hope for today?

The NSU was not an isolated incident. This shift to the right in our country is a very big problem. We must stand together; we must not allow ourselves to be divided. That's what I always tell young people when they ask, "What should we do?" We all have a responsibility. That includes taking part in elections and not giving this particular party the chance to divide our society.

What gives you hope?

Today, I am not alone. Today, I go to events, panel discussions, and visit schools. I feel hope when I see in the eyes of the students that my story has reached them. They understand it and they want to make a difference.

This interview was conducted by Andrea Grunau in German.

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