Düsseldorf | Bomb attack in Wehrhahn goes unpunished for 25 years

The bomb that injured ten people and killed an unborn child 25 years ago at Düsseldorf's Wehrhahn S-Bahn station was hidden in an inconspicuous plastic bag. The plastic bag was hanging from the railing on a path leading to the platform. The bomb inside was activated by a remote detonator just as a group of language students walked past. The fact that more people didn't die is likely due only to the fact that the explosives in the bomb were contaminated. To this day, the identity of the bomb planter remains officially unknown, although for a long time it seemed as if a late solution would be found.

Ralf S. was arrested in February 2017. The Düsseldorf police and public prosecutor's office made a media statement stating that they were confident they had solved the attack after a long time. The suspect, Ralf S., had already come under investigators' scrutiny shortly after the crime. S. ran a military goods store near the crime scene and directly across from the language school, which at the time was primarily attended by so-called Jewish quota refugees.

Ralf S. is referred to as the "sheriff" of the Flingern district, or rather, calls himself that. In any case, he regularly "patrols" the district with his dog. S. is a member of the far-right DVU party and is entrenched in the local neo-Nazi scene. When investigators encounter him shortly after the crime, all sorts of things go wrong. An initial house search is later described as a "rough house search." The investigators also pursue other leads. They search for the "Russian mafia" in the victims' environment. This discriminates against the victims but contributes nothing to solving the case. The investigations fizzle out; at one point, only one police officer is left to deal with them.

In 2014, the Castrop-Rauxel correctional facility contacted investigators, claiming that Ralf S., who was serving a prison sentence, had confessed to the attack to a fellow inmate. The investigation began anew and was extensive: profiling, surveillance measures, and numerous witness interviews. In February 2017, Ralf S. was finally arrested. However, his trial turned out to be a disappointment. Witnesses did not testify as expected, and Ralf S. presented himself as a stupid liar. In the end , the defendant was acquitted. There were doubts as to whether he had the technical capability to build the bomb and where exactly he was at the crime scene. 18 years after the crime, the events could no longer be reconstructed with sufficient accuracy. Many observers, however, agree that S. must have committed the crime.

The story of the lack of clarification was told this Sunday, just as the mayor and district mayor offered words of caution and warning. More fascinating, however, is what the authors of a new book about the attack recounted at the memorial service. In "And Then Came the Fear...", Fabian Virchow and Sabine Reimann reflect on how Ruth Rubinstein, the honorary chairwoman of the Düsseldorf Jewish Community, describes the feeling after the Wehrhahn bombing.

In this volume, the two scholars have brought together various authors who take a deeper look: at the under-represented phenomenon of anti-Eastern European racism, at anti-Semitic propaganda in extreme right-wing media against Jews from Eastern Europe, and at the structures of the neo-Nazi scene around the turn of the millennium.

The book focuses even more strongly on those affected, and an interview with Ekaterina Pyzova is particularly impressive. Now 75, she survived the attack with serious injuries, and her bitter disappointment speaks through her voice. Pyzova reports that she came to Germany from Kazakhstan, her main goal: to find work. After the attack, she spent a month in the hospital. No one at the employment office was interested in that. The employment office told her she should go and do cleaning. There was no help filling out applications. The police asked her primarily about the "Russian mafia."

Ekaterina Pyzova is certain: "We were Russian Germans. That's why we didn't get any help, and not a single person ever apologized to us." Pyzova welcomes the fact that the attack is being remembered today. However, the 75-year-old suffers from cancer and can no longer participate herself; for her, "it all comes too late." Why does Ekaterina Pyzova still speak about the attack? She has hope for justice – and that "something will change" if many people speak out: "Not now, today, or tomorrow, but in the long term; that the victims will truly receive help. Because things can't go on like this."

This Sunday, many quotes by Ekaterina Pyzova hang in the long corridor leading down to the S-Bahn platform. Some people stop and read them, perhaps helping to keep alive the memory of an act that many, even in Düsseldorf, are unaware of.

(The initiative "Wehrhahn Remember" has extensively reviewed the attack on its website . "NSU-Watch" recently published a podcast that explores various aspects of the attack.)