The neo-Nazi terrorist organization, the National Socialist Underground NSU committed ten murders, three bomb attacks, and 15 bank robberies in the years between and They did not claim responsibility for their crimes and were not discovered by law enforcement until November 4, From a progressive perspective, the NSU case is an unprecedented example of the close connection [3] between the secret services and the neo-Nazi movement as well as the structural racism within the law enforcement authorities.
On the political level, eleven parliamentary inquiry committees have been established to investigate the NSU case and consider possible consequences. Of these eleven committees, five have finished their work and five are currently working. In addition, special rapporteurs and investigators have conducted investigations on the federal and state level, especially with regards to the destruction of files and the work of informants see para 3.
On the judicial level, the federal prosecutor has so far only brought one case against four alleged supporters and one alleged member of the NSU before court. This trial before the Court of Appeals in Munich has been ongoing since May It is the biggest and most important trial against neo-Nazis in Germany with days of trial so far.
Although there is no clear estimate as to when the trial will be over, a judgment is expected this summer see para 4. Despite these ongoing parliamentary and judicial investigations, the questions posed above are far from being answered and will most likely remain so for some time.
This paper aims to provide a very general introduction to the topic and explain why these questions are raised by the NSU case. Over the course of the investigation more and more questions have been raised and very few have been answered. Therefore, this paper can only provide a basic overview and refer the reader to links for some further reading.
