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White Terror: A True Story of Murder, Bombings and Germany’s Far Right
In a tour de force of investigative journalism, White Terror tells for the first time the story of the National Socialist Underground in Germany – in an engrossing global story that examines violence, modern racism and national trauma.
Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of deep uncertainty: some four million East Germans found themselves out of a job. At first the three friends spent their nights wandering the streets, smoking, drinking, looking for trouble. Then they began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. Believing foreigners were a threat to their homeland, the three friends embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants.
In a tour de force of investigative journalism and novelistic storytelling, White Terror follows the National Socialist Underground, or NSU, from their radicalisation as young skinheads through their transformation into fully fledged terrorists carrying out bombings and assassinations while living on the run. But it’s also about something almost as terrifying: the German police and intelligence services that missed clues, mishandled far-right informants and repeatedly tried to paint the immigrant victims as mafiosos. Once the terror plot was revealed, the authorities shredded documents to cover up their mistakes and refused to acknowledge that their racism had led them astray.
A masterwork of reporting, White Terror reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.
Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of deep uncertainty: some four million East Germans found themselves out of a job. At first the three friends spent their nights wandering the streets, smoking, drinking, looking for trouble. Then they began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. Believing foreigners were a threat to their homeland, the three friends embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants.
In a tour de force of investigative journalism and novelistic storytelling, White Terror follows the National Socialist Underground, or NSU, from their radicalisation as young skinheads through their transformation into fully fledged terrorists carrying out bombings and assassinations while living on the run. But it’s also about something almost as terrifying: the German police and intelligence services that missed clues, mishandled far-right informants and repeatedly tried to paint the immigrant victims as mafiosos. Once the terror plot was revealed, the authorities shredded documents to cover up their mistakes and refused to acknowledge that their racism had led them astray.
A masterwork of reporting, White Terror reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2024
About the author
Jacob Kushner
4 books4 followersJacob Kushner is an international correspondent who writes magazine and other longform stories from Africa, Germany, and the Caribbean.
He reports on migration and statelessness, science and global health, history and foreign aid, terrorism and violent extremism, climate change and wildlife.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Economist, National Geographic, VQR, The Atavist, WIRED, Foreign Policy, and VICE. He has photographed for National Geographic and field-produced for VICE on HBO, and PBS NewsHour.
He is the author of China’s Congo Plan, which was favorably reviewed in The New York Review of Books. His forthcoming book, Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants, will be published in spring 2024 by Grand Central (Hachette) and HarperCollins UK.
Jacob teaches International Reporting and Migration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jacob graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a B.A. in journalism and Latin American studies. He holds an M.A. in political journalism from Columbia University. In 2013 he conducted research for the ICIJ on their Offshore Leaks project, a precursor to the Panama Papers. As an Overseas Press Club Fellow in Nairobi he covered the 2013 Westgate Mall terrorist attack for the Associated Press. In 2016 he was named among the world’s leading journalists doing solutions-based reporting by the Solutions Journalism Network. He investigated terrorism against immigrants as a 2017-2018 Fulbright Fellow in Germany, and in 2018 he was named a Finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for Excellence in International Reporting. Jacob was a 2019 Logan Nonfiction Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good.
He reports on migration and statelessness, science and global health, history and foreign aid, terrorism and violent extremism, climate change and wildlife.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Economist, National Geographic, VQR, The Atavist, WIRED, Foreign Policy, and VICE. He has photographed for National Geographic and field-produced for VICE on HBO, and PBS NewsHour.
He is the author of China’s Congo Plan, which was favorably reviewed in The New York Review of Books. His forthcoming book, Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants, will be published in spring 2024 by Grand Central (Hachette) and HarperCollins UK.
Jacob teaches International Reporting and Migration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jacob graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a B.A. in journalism and Latin American studies. He holds an M.A. in political journalism from Columbia University. In 2013 he conducted research for the ICIJ on their Offshore Leaks project, a precursor to the Panama Papers. As an Overseas Press Club Fellow in Nairobi he covered the 2013 Westgate Mall terrorist attack for the Associated Press. In 2016 he was named among the world’s leading journalists doing solutions-based reporting by the Solutions Journalism Network. He investigated terrorism against immigrants as a 2017-2018 Fulbright Fellow in Germany, and in 2018 he was named a Finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for Excellence in International Reporting. Jacob was a 2019 Logan Nonfiction Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 23, 2024
It's hard to overestimate how important it is to tell this story about how internalized racial prejudice led representatives of the German state and media to unintentionally help a neo-Nazi terrorist group: Between 2000 and 2011, the self-proclaimed National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed ten people, attempted to murder 43 more, committed three bombings and 15 robberies. The NSU was the biggest domestic terror threat after the leftist Red Army Fraction.
Kushner is here to meticulously reconstruct how the core trio, two men and a woman radicalized in the former GDR, went on a rampage and murdered nine people with immigration background, and yes, let's say their names:
Enver Şimşek,
Abdurrahim Özüdoğru,
Süleyman Taşköprü,
Habil Kılıç,
Mehmet Turgut,
İsmail Yaşar,
Theodoros Boulgarides,
Mehmet Kubaşık and
Halit Yozgat.
Also, they murdered policewoman Michèle Kiesewetter (her colleague barely survived being shot in head). What's particularly shocking here is that police, politics, state and media for years referred to the series as the "Dönermorde", Döner being a dish with Turkish origins that is very popular in Germany - the term insinuated that the murders were the result of some kind of feud between immigrant groups and organized crime connected to immigrants, which was exactly what the people responsible for finding the perpetrators assumed. But the killers were white bio-Germans, they were fascists.
And of course, Kushner's research is great, and I applaud that he highlights this story for English-speaking audiences, because there is A LOT to learn here, and not only for Germans and Germany. I also applaud that he reveals the destiny of the victims and their families instead of being carried away by "evil": He sees that the terrorists were three banal losers who went berserk, and that they as people are not what's interesting here. What's interesting is how the system and society failed to stop them, and what that meant and stills means for the loved ones of the victims and, ultimately, all of us in Germany.
On to my criticism, which is probably strongly influenced by the fact that I have already heard a lot about the NSU and the failed investigations, so maybe that book isn't even written for me. I think the sociological background of radicalization in East Germany and many other factors that contributed to what happened here are not discussed deeply and seriously enough. For instance, we get arguments like: "But XY democratic party didn't care", which is obviously way too simplistic and thus explains nothing. Granted, this is a huge clusterfuck of a story, but the attempt to explain the multi-layered causes is where the lessons lie.
But as a recap, this is valuable, and I think that the book is generally aimed at non-German audiences with different needs. And people should hear this tale and think about its implications, as well as how we can stand up against neo-Nazis everywhere.
Kushner is here to meticulously reconstruct how the core trio, two men and a woman radicalized in the former GDR, went on a rampage and murdered nine people with immigration background, and yes, let's say their names:
Enver Şimşek,
Abdurrahim Özüdoğru,
Süleyman Taşköprü,
Habil Kılıç,
Mehmet Turgut,
İsmail Yaşar,
Theodoros Boulgarides,
Mehmet Kubaşık and
Halit Yozgat.
Also, they murdered policewoman Michèle Kiesewetter (her colleague barely survived being shot in head). What's particularly shocking here is that police, politics, state and media for years referred to the series as the "Dönermorde", Döner being a dish with Turkish origins that is very popular in Germany - the term insinuated that the murders were the result of some kind of feud between immigrant groups and organized crime connected to immigrants, which was exactly what the people responsible for finding the perpetrators assumed. But the killers were white bio-Germans, they were fascists.
And of course, Kushner's research is great, and I applaud that he highlights this story for English-speaking audiences, because there is A LOT to learn here, and not only for Germans and Germany. I also applaud that he reveals the destiny of the victims and their families instead of being carried away by "evil": He sees that the terrorists were three banal losers who went berserk, and that they as people are not what's interesting here. What's interesting is how the system and society failed to stop them, and what that meant and stills means for the loved ones of the victims and, ultimately, all of us in Germany.
On to my criticism, which is probably strongly influenced by the fact that I have already heard a lot about the NSU and the failed investigations, so maybe that book isn't even written for me. I think the sociological background of radicalization in East Germany and many other factors that contributed to what happened here are not discussed deeply and seriously enough. For instance, we get arguments like: "But XY democratic party didn't care", which is obviously way too simplistic and thus explains nothing. Granted, this is a huge clusterfuck of a story, but the attempt to explain the multi-layered causes is where the lessons lie.
But as a recap, this is valuable, and I think that the book is generally aimed at non-German audiences with different needs. And people should hear this tale and think about its implications, as well as how we can stand up against neo-Nazis everywhere.
July 10, 2024
Jacob Kushner has a lot he wants to write about in his book, Look Away. He wants to discuss Germany's thriving neo-Nazis, a specific trio of serial killer neo-Nazis, the families of the victims, and the extreme failure of Germany's police force. Any one of these subjects could be an excellent book. Unfortunately, Kushner tries to cover all of them in a scant 250 or so pages and it becomes a problem.
There are some very good aspects of Look Away and they aren't hard to find. Kushner is clearly passionate about all of these subjects and if you isolate any one thing in the book, he can write rather compellingly. Kushner makes a real effort to tell the story of the victims in a compassionate way. He clearly hates neo-Nazis. (Same, bro.)
The problem is the sheer scope. The first half or so of the book tackles the Neo-Nazi vs. punk movement. The hateful trio is introduced as well, but it felt like it was way more about the background and ideologies of a whole group and not just the main players. There are also characters who probably could have been eliminated from the text such as Katharina. She is by no means not worthy of being part of the narrative. However, she needed more page count to do her story justice or to be cut entirely because she isn't pivotal enough in the actual crimes and subsequent trial. By the time the book gets to the killing spree of immigrants and trial, the flow starts to feel rushed. Kushner needed to focus on one or two subjects or expand the book extensively.
The last thing which kept me from truly enjoying this book was Kushner's repeated criticisms of Germany's police force. I know nothing about Germany's law enforcement. However, Kushner does not miss an opportunity to spew invective at the job police did during the investigations. Again, I am not doubting Kushner's characterization as I don't know, but I do object to the number of times he feels the need to say it. He made his point and he needs to trust the reader that they understand and remembered what he has reported.
There is some very good and important information in here, but it does not succeed as a cohesive narrative.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
There are some very good aspects of Look Away and they aren't hard to find. Kushner is clearly passionate about all of these subjects and if you isolate any one thing in the book, he can write rather compellingly. Kushner makes a real effort to tell the story of the victims in a compassionate way. He clearly hates neo-Nazis. (Same, bro.)
The problem is the sheer scope. The first half or so of the book tackles the Neo-Nazi vs. punk movement. The hateful trio is introduced as well, but it felt like it was way more about the background and ideologies of a whole group and not just the main players. There are also characters who probably could have been eliminated from the text such as Katharina. She is by no means not worthy of being part of the narrative. However, she needed more page count to do her story justice or to be cut entirely because she isn't pivotal enough in the actual crimes and subsequent trial. By the time the book gets to the killing spree of immigrants and trial, the flow starts to feel rushed. Kushner needed to focus on one or two subjects or expand the book extensively.
The last thing which kept me from truly enjoying this book was Kushner's repeated criticisms of Germany's police force. I know nothing about Germany's law enforcement. However, Kushner does not miss an opportunity to spew invective at the job police did during the investigations. Again, I am not doubting Kushner's characterization as I don't know, but I do object to the number of times he feels the need to say it. He made his point and he needs to trust the reader that they understand and remembered what he has reported.
There is some very good and important information in here, but it does not succeed as a cohesive narrative.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
May 6, 2024
A gripping tale. While there are many stories about radicalization in the US, I never imagined how big a problem it is in Germany, even though I am interested in European politics. Written like a thriller, this book not only describes a spectacular case of a domestic Nazi terrorist group, but also offers fascinating insights into recent German history. I must warn you that it can be harrowing at times - the most frustrating parts for me were those describing how the state and relevant authorities ignored or even supported radical individuals.
Recommended for anyone interested not only in international affairs, but also in how evil can be born and thrive.
Thanks to the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
Recommended for anyone interested not only in international affairs, but also in how evil can be born and thrive.
Thanks to the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
July 14, 2024
Repulsive, abhorrent, malignant. Must read.
Read
March 20, 2024Jacob Kushner ’10
Author
From the author:
Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of economic crisis: some four million East Germans found themselves out of jobs. The friends began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. From 2000 to 2011, they embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants.
Look Away follows Beate Zschäpe and her two accomplices—and sometimes lovers—as they radicalized within Germany’s far-right scene, escaped into hiding, and carried out their terrorist spree. Unable to believe that the brutal killings and bombings were being carried out by white Germans, police blamed—and sometimes framed—the immigrants instead. Readers meet Gamze Kubaşık, whose family emigrated from Turkey to seek safety, only to find themselves in the terrorists’ sights. It also tracks Katharina König, an Antifa punk who would help expose the NSU and their accomplices to the world. A masterwork of reporting and storytelling, Look Away reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.
Author
From the author:
Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of economic crisis: some four million East Germans found themselves out of jobs. The friends began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. From 2000 to 2011, they embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants.
Look Away follows Beate Zschäpe and her two accomplices—and sometimes lovers—as they radicalized within Germany’s far-right scene, escaped into hiding, and carried out their terrorist spree. Unable to believe that the brutal killings and bombings were being carried out by white Germans, police blamed—and sometimes framed—the immigrants instead. Readers meet Gamze Kubaşık, whose family emigrated from Turkey to seek safety, only to find themselves in the terrorists’ sights. It also tracks Katharina König, an Antifa punk who would help expose the NSU and their accomplices to the world. A masterwork of reporting and storytelling, Look Away reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.
July 16, 2024
A scary bit of reporting on the Far Right in Germany, focusing mainly on a series of murders and bank robberies committed by a group of 3 individuals with support from friends in the movement, police informants who were funding and enabling them instead of reporting their activities and an ensuing trial years later that dragged on for years.
Because the modus operandi of the group doesn't deviate much, the meticulous reporting of the murders and who the victims were starts to feel repetitive after a while. Especially since there is no "whodunit" suspense factor other than what might happen to the perpetrators in court eventually.
Worrisome in how pervasive the movement and their persecution of foreigners is and implications for the rest of us living in countries with ascendant anti-immigrant forces. My wish for this book would have been to give us more on the macro level, particularly what is going on with the political parties and in particular the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party that is getting stronger by the year. Most of the action in this book took place 10-25 years ago. Can we bring things up-to-date now?
Because the modus operandi of the group doesn't deviate much, the meticulous reporting of the murders and who the victims were starts to feel repetitive after a while. Especially since there is no "whodunit" suspense factor other than what might happen to the perpetrators in court eventually.
Worrisome in how pervasive the movement and their persecution of foreigners is and implications for the rest of us living in countries with ascendant anti-immigrant forces. My wish for this book would have been to give us more on the macro level, particularly what is going on with the political parties and in particular the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party that is getting stronger by the year. Most of the action in this book took place 10-25 years ago. Can we bring things up-to-date now?
July 25, 2024
This book proves what we already know and that is, although racism an violence cuts both ways it is mainly white supremacist perpetrators we hear about though there are black supremacist movements as well and they hide behind all sorts of fronts ranging from religion to perceived injustices. this book explores the German radical movement using Germany’s immigrants as its focus and trying to resurrect Germany’s past to put right what they see as wrong, a case of completing the unfinished business Hitler began. it’s a dangerous andd scary book which tells a harrowing story which I guess a lot of people can relate to especially if they live with violence every day either within the home or within the environments of their lives. Itt’s not a bad book except that I really don’t like what I call journo-speak where it’s all ‘she remembers’ and ‘he recalled’. We get it. They remember. They recall. They later said. They wrote. Lay off the recollection thing and just tell the story. it’s far more interesting than say9ing who recalled what. We know they did, it’s the quotation marks that kind of make that obvious don’t you think?
May 22, 2024
This was horrifying -- the beginning was just story after story after story of senseless violence, followed by the main story where we follow specific people who become enmeshed in far-right ideas and commit horrific acts against innocent people. The violence was bad enough, but the families of the victims had no idea why their loved ones were chosen and we get to see the effects on them. We get to see a trial at the end, and a lot of the blame was put on the officers who blamed the victims for their involvement when it was never their fault. At the same time, it's easy to see why you wouldn't want to believe people can be so evil.
In the end, there is a stark remind that there are people like this in the US. This book proves how important it is to keep our eyes open and fight evil when we see it. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
In the end, there is a stark remind that there are people like this in the US. This book proves how important it is to keep our eyes open and fight evil when we see it. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
June 5, 2024
Look Away isn't so much a particularly well written piece of non fiction, although it seems competently done to me.
What recommends this book to anyone who strives to understand the dark forces of neo-nazism, hyper nationalism and xenophobia in my opinion is the way it shines a light through the myriad layers of German society from the 1980s to the present as it tells the story of a band of kids who came up in the hard scrabble streets of a crumbling East Germany who are radicalized into brutal terrorists with a slew of murders on their heads.
Where this book shines is its depiction of the depths of human suffering experienced by the victims of neo nazi and other facists and most grievously by the families of the NSU's victims.
This isn't light reading but in my opinion the understanding you gain more than pays the price of admission.
What recommends this book to anyone who strives to understand the dark forces of neo-nazism, hyper nationalism and xenophobia in my opinion is the way it shines a light through the myriad layers of German society from the 1980s to the present as it tells the story of a band of kids who came up in the hard scrabble streets of a crumbling East Germany who are radicalized into brutal terrorists with a slew of murders on their heads.
Where this book shines is its depiction of the depths of human suffering experienced by the victims of neo nazi and other facists and most grievously by the families of the NSU's victims.
This isn't light reading but in my opinion the understanding you gain more than pays the price of admission.
June 29, 2024
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for this complimentary finished copy. 🖤
Look Away is the disgusting story of xenophobia in Germany in the early 2000s. Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt, and Beate Zschäpe were part of Germany’s far-right scene. They escalated from beating foreigners and leftists to committing robberies and then murders. They were influenced by Hitler and America’s KKK and took pride in their Nazi ancestors. Police blamed and framed immigrants; they couldn’t wrap their heads around terrorist attacks by white Germans, even though the far-right scene was quite prevalent.
Jacob Kushner does a fabulous job retelling this harrowing story. This non-fiction text reads as a fictional tale because it’s hard to believe human beings could be so cruel to each other, especially just based on their ancestry.
Look Away is the disgusting story of xenophobia in Germany in the early 2000s. Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt, and Beate Zschäpe were part of Germany’s far-right scene. They escalated from beating foreigners and leftists to committing robberies and then murders. They were influenced by Hitler and America’s KKK and took pride in their Nazi ancestors. Police blamed and framed immigrants; they couldn’t wrap their heads around terrorist attacks by white Germans, even though the far-right scene was quite prevalent.
Jacob Kushner does a fabulous job retelling this harrowing story. This non-fiction text reads as a fictional tale because it’s hard to believe human beings could be so cruel to each other, especially just based on their ancestry.
May 14, 2024
An eye-opening true story of domestic terrorism, willfully overlooked by police and bureaucracy in post-unification Germany. Kushner follows the three right-wing terrorists as they create a swathe of death and destruction, uncovering stunning oversights and incompetence by the authorities at almost every turn. More importantly, he centers the voices and experiences of the courageous immigrant survivors - the family and friends who sought justice for their murdered loved ones, even as they were unjustly profiled by the police who should have protected them. Kushner weaves material evidence together deftly with personal anecdotes to create a compelling narrative, inviting readers to reflect on how we might prevent these types of tragedy in the future.
May 19, 2024
A well-written expose of contemporary white supremacy in Germany.
As an American-German, albeit with limited lived experience in Germany, reading Look Away was riveting, illuminating, and painful— as someone who draws some identity from Germany and German culture, this book is well worth reading to better understand what continues to plague the nation.
As an American-German, albeit with limited lived experience in Germany, reading Look Away was riveting, illuminating, and painful— as someone who draws some identity from Germany and German culture, this book is well worth reading to better understand what continues to plague the nation.
June 10, 2024
This novel is a must-read. It provides a harrowing account of xenophobia in Germany, and questions the extent to which the nation has truly grappled with the country's Nazi history (spoiler alert: there is much more to be done). I appreciate that the author's storytelling centers the experience of the victims and their families. This book will break your heart, and summon you to action.
July 9, 2024
Utterly horrifying. I am a person of colour immigrant in Germany and this rocks me to my core. I like to think I’m an aware hare and don’t turn away from the political movement towards the right but this made it all feel so real and close to home. The system is so, so broken and the institutions that are meant to keep us safe are often the ones that hurt us. Such an important read.
May 27, 2024
An eerie look at how a trio of far right serial killers eluded the police in Germany for years. Thanks to Grand Central for the review copy!
June 18, 2024
The most horrifying part is the German police’s role in aiding and abetting far-right terrorism.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews