Murder of Dorit Botts

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The murder of Dorit Botts (* August 17, 1947 - August 17, 2001 in Fulda ) took place on August 17, 2001 in Florengasse in Fulda ( Hesse ). The 54-year-old woman was murdered in her shop in Fulda, Hesse, by the then 19-year-old right-wing extremist Frank R. as a ritual of admission to the “ German Pagan Front ”.

The act and its legal processing

On August 17, 2001, her birthday, Dorit Botts was murdered by the then 19-year-old right-wing extremist Frank R. in her military shop on Florengasse in Fulda. The perpetrator first seriously injured her with 13 stab wounds in the upper body and face and then cut her throat. Frank R. fled with clothing and cash worth 1000 DM , so that greed was initially assumed as the motive and the act was classified as robbery. The Fuldaer Zeitung announced at the time: "According to the investigations so far, there is no evidence of a connection to the right-wing scene." For a short time, the police also assumed that motives from the right-wing scene could be important, but this was quickly ruled out again. Before the regional court in Erfurt , Frank R. was sentenced to nine years and two months imprisonment for murder in unison with robbery resulting in death, in camera and under youth criminal law. It remains unclear for what purpose the perpetrator captured the military clothing. Whether he wanted to sell them on a right-wing march on the day of the death of Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess , at which Fulda was a meeting place for car pools on the weekend of the crime, remains open.

Only in later proceedings, in which the perpetrator testified against the alleged instigator, did the neo-Nazi background of the crime become apparent. On October 28, 2004, more than three years after the murder, the Erfurt Regional Court opened the case again to clarify the background to the crime. The public prosecutor assumed that Frank R. was instigated by his 23-year-old friend and band colleague who was a member of the right-wing extremist neo-pagan group " German Heidenfront ". The alleged instigator was acquitted. However, Frank R. testified that his friend had incited him to the murder with the words "Go to Fulda and make the old woman cold". It turned out that the motive for the act was a ritual of admission to the Thuringian neo-Nazi organization "German Heidenfront". The court assumed that the perpetrator “in the fulfillment of the order given to him was primarily about the killing of Ms. Botts” and that this motive was “driving force and dominating the crime”.

The shop in Fulda in which Ms. Botts was murdered was a branch of the shop in Schlüchtern , which her son had been running there since the 1980s. Essentially, he was trading in sleeping bags, parkas, boots, etc. that were discarded by the U.S. Army.

Criticism of the reappraisal of the murder of Dorit Botts

Recognition of Dorit Botts as a victim of right-wing violence

The official classification of this act is still controversial today. Dorit Botts is currently not listed as a victim of right-wing violence in the official federal statistics of the fatalities of right-wing violence . The Amadeu Antonio Foundation calls for the act to be classified as politically motivated crime : "The 54-year-old woman had to die because she was chosen for Frank R. as a victim for a right-wing extremist organization for a ritual." From the point of view of the Hessian authorities, however, the act was not to be rated as right-wing extremist. Accordingly, the country sees no need to re-examine the case for a political background. On several occasions parliamentary questions both at regional and national level addressed the political background of the crime.

Honorable memory in Fulda

In Fulda there is no public commemoration or a memorial to Dorit Botts. Shortly after the crime, the mayor at the time , Gerhard Möller ( CDU ) of the city of Fulda, announced that a commemorative memorial would be given to the murdered woman and that a commemorative plaque would be attached to the crime scene. The faction Die Linke.Offene Liste / Menschen für Fulda criticizes that the city has not done anything to date to create a memorial for Dorit Botts and to commemorate the right-wing terrorist act. In an application “Honorary commemoration of the Fulda victims of right-wing violence”, the parliamentary group Die Linke.Offene Liste / Menschen für Fulda requested on August 19, 2019 the magistrate , on the occasion of the upcoming twentieth anniversary of death on August 18, 2021, “Suggestions for a suitable remembrance " submit to. In January 2020, the School, Culture and Sport Committee of the Fulda City Council rejected the application.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Peter Nowak: Honorable commemoration rejected. In: new Germany. January 31, 2020, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Beeke Melcher: "Go to Fulda and make the old woman cold". In: Courage Against Rights Violence. Stern magazine, Amadeo Antonio Foundation, August 16, 2012, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b c Frank Jansen, Heike Kleffner, Johannes Radke, Toralf Staud: Fatalities of right-wing violence: 169 fates. In: ZEIT ONLINE. September 27, 2018, accessed on May 10, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ a b c Dorit Botts. In: Amadeu Antonio Foundation. Amadeu Antonio Foundation, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  5. ^ Frank Jansen, Heike Kleffner, Johannes Radke and Toralf Staud: Fatalities of right-wing violence: 169 fates. ZEIT ONLINE, September 27, 2018, accessed on May 10, 2020 (German).
  6. ^ A b Osthessen-News: 3 years after the murder in the "outdoor shop" new trial: was it incitement? In: Osthessen | News. October 28, 4, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  7. ^ A b Peter Nowak: Denied Nazi Victims. In: new Germany. August 17, 2012, accessed May 14, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Peter Nowak: When amok and fascism coincide. In: telepolis. Heise Online, February 21, 2020, accessed on May 10, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b c Pitt v. Bebenburg: neo-Nazi victims recognized. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. July 29, 2015, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b Fraction Die LINKE. Open List / People for Fulda: Application in honor of commemoration of Fulda victims of right-wing violence. (PDF) In: www.fulda.de. City Council Assembly Fulda, August 19, 2020, p. 13 , accessed on May 10, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Federal Government (17th electoral period): At least 137 fatalities of right-wing violence in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1990. (PDF) Response of the Federal Government to the major question from MPs Petra Pau, Jan Korte, Sevim Dag ̆delen, other MPs and the DIE LINKE parliamentary group. - Printed matter 17/5303. In: Bundestag. Bundestag printed matter, September 27, 2011, p. 52 , accessed on May 10, 2020 .
  12. ↑ fraction The Linke.Offene list / People Fulda: Applications and inquiries of the Left to the city council. In: Osthessen News. August 30, 2019, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b City parliament against commemoration | apabiz. In: Antifascist press archive and education center eV (apabiz). April 9, 2020, accessed May 10, 2020 .