National Socialist Underground

National Socialist Underground
Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund
Also known asNSU
LeaderUwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe
Dates of operation2001-2010
CountryGermany
IdeologyNeo-Nazism
White supremacy
Xenophobia
German nationalism
Ultranationalism
Political positionFar-right
Major actionsA series of murders, bombings, and bank robberies
StatusDefunct
SizeBetween 100 and 150

The National Socialist Underground (German: Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund, pronounced [natsi̯oˌnaːlzotsi̯alɪstɪʃɐ ˈʊntɐˌɡʁʊnt] ⓘ), or NSU (German: [ɛnʔɛsˈʔuː] ⓘ), was a German neo-Nazi militant organization active between 2001 and 2010,[1] and uncovered in November 2011.[2] Regarded as a terror cell, the NSU is mostly associated with Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt and Beate Zschäpe, who lived together under false identities. Between 100 and 150 further associates were identified who supported the core trio in their decade-long underground life and provided them with money, false identities and weapons. Unlike other terror groups, the NSU had not claimed responsibility for their actions. The group's existence was discovered only after the deaths of Böhnhardt and Mundlos, and the subsequent arrest of Zschäpe.

So far, the following crimes have been attributed to the NSU: the National Socialist Underground murders, a series of murders of nine immigrants of Turkish, Greek and Kurdish descent between 9 September 2000 and 6 April 2006; the murder of a policewoman and attempted murder of her colleague; a 1999 bombing in Nuremberg;[3] the 2001 and 2004 Cologne bombings; and a series of 14 bank robberies.[4][5][6] The Attorney General of Germany called the NSU a "right-wing extremist group whose purpose was to kill foreigners, and citizens of foreign origin".[7] The NSU attacks have been regarded as "the most violent by a guerrilla group in Germany since the end of the far-left Red Army Faction".[8]

National Socialist Underground is located in Germany
Nuremberg Murder 2000 Murder 2001 Murder 2005
Nuremberg
Murder 2000
Murder 2001
Murder 2005
Hamburg Murder 2001
Hamburg
Murder 2001
Munich Murder 2001 Murder 2005
Munich
Murder 2001
Murder 2005
Rostock Murder 2004
Rostock
Murder 2004
Dortmund Murder 2006
Dortmund
Murder 2006
Kassel Murder 2006
Kassel
Murder 2006
Heilbronn Murder 2007
Heilbronn
Murder 2007
Cologne Bomb 2001 Bomb 2004
Cologne
Bomb 2001
Bomb 2004
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NSU's serial murders (), 2001 and 2004 Cologne bombing () and Murder of Michèle Kiesewetter ()
  1. ^ Gopalakrishnan, Manasi (9 December 2012). "Arsonists target refugee homes". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 23 January 2024. The NSU, or National Socialist Underground, was a Neo-Nazi group active between 2001 and 2010.
  2. ^ Daniel Koehler: The German National Socialist Underground (NSU), in Jackson, Paul and Shekhovtsov, Anton (editors): The Post-War Anglo-American Far Right: A Special Relationship of Hate. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. pp. 122-141. ISBN 9781137396211
  3. ^ Von Der Behrens, Antonia (15 January 2018). "Lessons from Germany's NSU case". Race & Class. 59 (4): 84–91. doi:10.1177/0306396817751307. ISSN 0306-3968. S2CID 220072502.
  4. ^ Trail of Hate – Activities and crimes of the Zwickau cell graphical timeline by Der Spiegel. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Haftbefehl gegen Holger G. aus Niedersachen erlassen". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). 14 November 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  6. ^ How could German neo-Nazi killers have evaded police for 13 years? The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. ^ Range, Harald (13 November 2011). "Haftbefehl gegen die Brandstifterin von Zwickau wegen mutmaßlicher Mitgliedschaft in der terroristischen Vereinigung "Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund (NSU)"". Attorney General of Germany (in German). Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  8. ^ "German neo-Nazi murder suspect apologises to families of victims". Reuters. Retrieved 21 January 2024.