Imagine the weight of a father’s grief. It is a grief discovering his son fatally wounded in their shop. That is the grim scene that unfolded here at Schützenstrasse 39. It is the location of the memorial stone for Süleyman Taşköprü.
This memorial stone for Süleyman Taşköprü stands as a stark reminder of a dark chapter in German history. It commemorates the life of Süleyman Taşköprü. He was a 31-year-old vegetable seller of Turkish descent. He was murdered on June 27, 2001. The murderers were members of the National Socialist Underground or NSU.
Süleyman Taşköprü left behind a three-year-old daughter. His life was tragically cut short by hate.
The NSU was a neo-Nazi terrorist group. It committed a series of murders across Germany. The cities were Nuremberg, Hamburg, Munich, Rostock, Dortmund, Kassel, and Heilbronn. In 2012, these cities united to remember the victims. They erected memorial stones bearing the same text. These plaques acknowledge the racially motivated nature of the attacks.
The Süleyman Taşköprü memorial stone bears a powerful inscription. It reads: “Neo-Nazi criminals murdered ten people in seven German cities between 2000 and 2007: nine fellow citizens who had found a new home with their families in Germany, and one policewoman. We are appalled and ashamed that, for years, these violent terrorist attacks were not recognised for what they were: murders committed out of contempt for other human beings. We say: never again!”
Süleyman Taşköprü was not just a statistic. He was a father, a son, and a member of the Hamburg community. He came to Germany with his family at the age of 11. After school, he worked for a Japanese company. Later, he took over his brother’s grocery store.
On that fateful day in June 2001, Süleyman Taşköprü was shot in the head. The perpetrators even photographed their victim before fleeing. His father found him mortally wounded.
Initially, investigators wrongly suspected organized crime. They did not consider right-wing extremism. This flawed investigation added insult to injury for Süleyman Taşköprü’s family.
In 2013, a street near the murder site was renamed Taşköprüstrasse. Hamburg became the first city to honor an NSU victim in this way. In 2018, the Hamburg Parliament apologized to the Taşköprü family. The apology was for the false suspicions they endured.
Süleyman Taşköprü was a fan of Sylvester Stallone. His sister promised to place a star on his gravestone. Besides the star, a memorial stone was erected in 2012.
The Süleyman Taşköprü memorial is a reminder. It serves as a call to vigilance against hatred and discrimination. It urges us to remember the victims of the NSU. It also reminds us to learn from the mistakes of the past. The memorial stands as a symbol of hope. It stands for a future where such atrocities never happen again.