In a video message on the official channels of the German federal government, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), called on people to stand against hate and to promote more humanity and less hatred in their daily lives, on the fifth anniversary of the Hanau attack.
The attack, which took place on February 19, 2020, claimed the lives of nine men and women, leaving behind a painful gap in the lives of their families, friends and the community in Hanau and the country as a whole, Scholz said, adding that this gap would remain.
The Chancellor expressed his concern over the growing number of people who write to him or tell him in personal conversations that they are afraid of being targeted or stigmatized solely because of their migration background or the way they look.
Scholz emphasized that the response five years after the Hanau attack must be to give hate no space and not to allow a minority to tear the country apart with their divisive rhetoric, saying that he is heartened by the many people currently taking to the streets to stand against racism and division, adding that they represent the majority of the population, who do not care where someone comes from or what they believe in, because for the majority, people are simply neighbors, friends, colleagues and schoolmates, just like the nine victims of Hanau, who are still deeply missed.
On the anniversary, there are commemorative events in Hanau and many other cities, with the “Initiative 19. Februar Hanau” expecting 87 vigils, demonstrations, rallies and candlelight events.
On February 19, 2020, a perpetrator in Hanau had shot and killed nine people, his mother and himself, with the German Federal Criminal Police Office classifying the attack as a right-wing and racist one.
Survivors and the bereaved have criticized the authorities’ handling of the case, including the fact that the perpetrator had a weapons permit despite having raised suspicions in the lead-up to the attack and that the emergency services were not reachable during the attack, with a father of one of the victims having filed a new complaint with the public prosecutor’s office in January 2025.