Background to the founding:
The initiative was founded in order to be prepared and ready to act during the trial days of the NSU proceedings in Munich. Prior to this, for seven years, the people of the Keupstraße were subjected to great injustice and denied a life of dignity due to the racist general suspicion that they themselves were the perpetrators and not the victims. For many, this led to further traumatization. In recent years, we have seen how important it is to restore the dignity, self-esteem, and broad recognition of those affected after false accusations and surveillance. We are committed to ensuring that the concerns and needs of the victims of the bomb attacks are acknowledged; that those affected obtain justice; that they receive support; and that there is a critical examination of state involvement and entanglements.
Goals and tasks:
Since November 2023, we have been operating as “Treffpunkt K,” a meeting place for remembrance and education about the bombings, as well as a counseling center for victims of racist and right-wing extremist violence in Cologne and the Cologne region. We offer those affected support with medical, legal, and social issues, and we advise them and help them find the appropriate specialist services. We are one of 11 initiatives that will be funded until the end of 2025 by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (Berlin) through its model project “Self-determined networking, remembrance, and education.”
With the help of an exhibition about the bombings, it has been possible since May 2024 to promote remembrance and educational work with students from various schools in Cologne, thereby strengthening and deepening their understanding of and responsibility for democratic processes. We also offer encounters with those affected, guided tours on the Keupstraße and the planned memorial on Keupstraße, and the interim memorial created by young people from Keupstraße. Finally, we regularly show the documentary film “Der Kuaför aus der Keupstraße” (The Barber from Keupstraße) at various locations in and outside Cologne, which deals intensively with the reversal of perpetrator and victim roles after the attacks.