1980 Hamburg arson attack

Right-wing terror attack in HamburgJune 2026 Billbrook, Hamburg, Germany 1980 08 21 y yes Germany Hamburg#Germany 200 center Billbrook 8 53 31 10 04 53 31 30 N 10 4 29 E 23:00 0:10 CEST (UTC+02:00) Vietnamese refugees Arson, hate crime Molotov cocktails 2 3 Deutsche Aktionsgruppen Sibylle VorderbrüggeRaymund HörnleHeinz Colditz Neo-NazismXenophobia 14 MurderAttempted murderAiding and abettingLeadership/membership of an unconstitutional terror network thumb | right | Amedia Hotel in Hamburg-Moorfleet, former refugee housing, and site of the 1980 arson attack. On the night of 21–22 August 1980, an arson attack was committed on a refugee accommodation in the Billbrook quarter of Hamburg, Germany, by members of the neo-Nazi terrorist organisation Deutsche Aktionsgruppen de Deutsche Aktionsgruppen (DA). Two people were fatally wounded and died the following week, while three others were injured. The attack is considered the first hate crime murders in BRD history.Weber Kaja 2020-08-21 Rassistischer Anschlag: Hamburg verdrängte den Mord an Vietnamesen https://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article230224296/Gedenken-Chau-Lan-Hamburg-1980-Billbrook-Anschlag-Rechtsextremismus-Nguyen-Ngoc-Chau-und-o-Anh-Lan-Halskestrasse.html Hamburger Abendblatt de All three of the main perpetrators were arrested. Two received life sentences while one was sentenced to six years prison time. The founder of Deutsche Aktionsgruppen, Holocaust denier Manfred Roeder, was also sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. Ten others were tried and received lesser prison sentences or conditional release.2024 The Deutsche Aktionsgruppen stand trial https://www.lernwerkstatt-neuengamme.de/medien/pdf/Rathausausstellung_2024_Rechte_Gewalt_18.pdf Lernwerkstatt Neugammen Background Vietnamese boat people Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, several hundred thousand of refugees, primarily Hoa, fled the country, often by boat. By the end of 1978, approximately 1,300 Vietnamese refugees were granted asylum in West Germany, significantly less than other countries, but their presence nevertheless led to the nation's first debate on asylum and immigration policy.2024-04-08 Wie die "Boatpeople" aus Vietnam nach Deutschland kamen https://www.nationalgeographic.de/geschichte-und-kultur/2024/04/boatpeople-aus-vietnam-nach-deutschland-flucht-ubers-meer#:~:text=Erstmals%20%E2%80%9Ehumanit%C3%A4re%20Fl%C3%BCchtlinge%E2%80%9C%20in%20Deutschland,werden%20nur%201.300%20Menschen%20aufgenommen. National Geographic de Their presence led to a surge of protest against foreigners.2024-07-19 Orte des Ankommens (VI): Hamburg 1980: Hotelzimmer oder Sammellager? https://www.bpb.de/themen/deutschlandarchiv/550559/orte-des-ankommens-vi-hamburg-1980-hotelzimmer-oder-sammellager/ Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung de The Deutsche Aktionsgruppe was founded in 1980 by Manfred Roeder. It had committed six prior attacks using explosives across Germany since February 1980, targeting refugee accommodations and Holocaust memorial sites.2020-02-20 Als in Jesingen Bomben gebaut wurden https://www.teckbote.de/nachrichten/kirchheim/als-in-jesingen-bomben-gebaut-wurden_arid-240747.html Der Teckbote deJune 2001 Rechtsextremismus in Stichworten Ideologien - Organisationen - Aktivitäten https://www.hamburg.de/resource/blob/899502/d041c0586b460c26e8be3e9359589ba9/rechtsex-stichwortbroschuere-pdf-data.pdf Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; Behörde für Inneres; Landesamt für VerfassungsschutzMaegerle Anton 2020-09-02 Rechtsterror: Brandstifter aus dem Südwesten https://www.kontextwochenzeitung.de/zeitgeschehen/492/brandstifter-aus-dem-suedwesten-6965.html 2025-01-22 KONTEXT:Wochenzeitung de-DE Attack At around 23:00 on 21 August 1980, a van carrying three members of the Deutsche Aktionsgruppen drove to Halskestraße 72 in the industrial area of Billbrook. A shelter building was being used as a refugee accommodation, housing 221 Vietnamese refugees.23 August 2020 "Deutsche Aktion": Tödlicher Neonazi-Terror 1980 https://www.ndr.de/geschichte/chronologie/Deutsche-Aktion-Toedlicher-Neonazi-Terror-vor-40-Jahren,anschlag185.html NDR de 24-year-old Sibylle Vorderbrügge and 49-year-old Raymund Hörnle left the vehicle while 50-year-old Heinz Colditz remained inside. Vorderbrügge and Hörnle carried three bottles filled with gasoline stuffed with cleaning wool as fuses, but they had trouble lighting them due to heavy rain. They waited until the rain subsided after midnight, then used red spraypaint to write "Ausländer raus!" ("Foreigners get out!") on the wall. Afterwards, Vorderbrügge and Hörnle lit the incendiary devices and threw them into a first floor window, into room 34, occupied by 22-year-old Nguyễn Ngọc Châu and 18-year-old Đỗ Anh Lân, both part of the Hoa minority.1982-01-10 Überall angreifen https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ueberall-angreifen-a-431a9aac-0002-0001-0000-000014335330 Der Spiegel de 2195-1349 Both men were asleep at the time and received severe burns from the fire. Staff and other residents were initially unable to reach the pair because the door was locked from the inside and were only able to help when the still-burning Đỗ opened the lock.31 March 2021 Đỗ Anh Lân https://bdkj.hamburg/do-anh-lan/ Bund der Deutsch Katholischen Jugend Hamburg de-DE Vorderbrügge and Hörnle ran off and fled back into the van to drive away.Keil Frank 2012-02-23 Der blanke Hass: Schon einmal zog eine rechte Terrorgruppe durch Deutschland https://www.zeit.de/2012/09/Anschlag-1980 Die Zeit de-DE 0044-2070Keil Frank 2014-08-22 Nazi-Anschlag auf Vietnamesen 1980: Verbrannt und vergessen https://taz.de/Nazi-Anschlag-auf-Vietnamesen-1980/!5034964/ 2025-01-22 Die Tageszeitung: taz de 0931-9085 The vehicle had been reported in a previous instance of vandalism a few days earlier in Thieshope, after a motorist saw a man and a woman spraypaint a traffic sign on A7, so the licence plate was in police records and quickly connected due to the usage of the same xenophobic slogan. The group was arrested on 1 September in Hannoversch Münden. Victims Nguyễn Ngọc Châu Nguyễn Ngọc Châu (zh 阮玉珠) was born on 26 July 1958 in Saigon. He had been rescued during a shipwreck in the South China Sea by the Cap Anamur ship and arrived in Hamburg in April 1980, where he worked as a teacher for other Vietnamese refugees.Nguyễn Ngọc Châu & Đỗ Anh Lân https://www.lernwerkstatt-neuengamme.de/medien/pdf/Rathausausstellung_2024_Rechte_Gewalt_03.pdf Lernwerkstatt Neuengammen Nguyễn died hours after the attack at around 9 a.m. on 22 August 1980.Wunder Olaf Grimm Thomas 2020-08-22 Der Tag, an dem ...: Sie schliefen, als die Brandsätze durchs Fenster flogen https://www.mopo.de/hamburg/der-tag--an-dem-----sie-schliefen--als-die-brandsaetze-durchs-fenster-flogen-37227068/ MOPO deSchwarzer Anke 2015-08-21 Rechtsextremismus: "Leider konnten wir sie nicht richtig kennenlernen" https://www.zeit.de/hamburg/stadtleben/2015-08/rechtsextremismus-tod-vietnamesische-fluechtlinge-jahrestag-paten-von-goldammer-interview/komplettansicht 2025-01-22 Die Zeit de-DE 0044-2070 Đỗ Anh Lân Đỗ Anh Lân (zh 杜英璘) was born on 10 March 1962 in the Chợ Lớn quarter of Saigon. His family believed in Chinese folk religion, and although fluent in both Vietnamese and Yue, they could not read the Vietnamese alphabet.Cascais Antonio Kemper Anna Meffert Christine Palm Johannes Vu Vanessa 2019-12-02 Rechtsextremismus: "Mein Sohn dachte, er sei in Deutschland sicher vor Bomben" https://www.zeit.de/zeit-magazin/2019/49/rechtsextremismus-nsu-mordopfer-neonazi-erinnerungskultur/komplettansicht Die Zeit de-DE 0044-2070 His mother Đỗ Mùi ran a textile workshop. He was a student and fled Vietnam due to fears of possible conscription. His parents stayed behind because they could not afford the escape of more than one person. He had been displaced to Pulau Bidong since 1977 and relocated to Hamburg on 14 August 1979, when a humanitarian flight was arranged by the German newspaper Die Zeit. Đỗ had received burns on 40% of his body and despite extensive treatment at Boberg Hospital, he died of his wounds on 31 August 1980, nine days after the bombing. His mother, who had remained in Saigon, only found out about his death upon her immigration the following month. In a 2018 interview, she stated, "My son thought he would be safe from bombs in Germany. And then in Germany, they killed him with a bomb." Two neighbouring residents, Thị Kim Thoa and Ngũ Thời Trọng, received less severe burn injuries from the fire. Another man, Huynh Thoâng, was injured while attempting pat down the flames on Đỗ Anh Lân.Tran Minh Thu Vu Vanessa 2021-12-28 Hamburg 1980: Als der rechte Terror wieder aufflammte https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2021-12/rassismus-mord-hamburg-vietnam-rice-and-shine-podcast Die Zeit de-DE 0044-2070 Perpetrators Sibylle Vorderbrügge (born 1956) was from Bremerhaven and worked as a medical assistant for radiology. She had become the girlfriend of Manfred Roeder, 51 years old and married at the time, a year earlier. Even before meeting Roeder, Vorderbrügge wrote in 1978 that she and Roeder were "destined by God to be together" and later said that she "thank[ed] him for making her a true German".1982-02-21 Thusnelda, Heldenweib https://www.spiegel.de/politik/thusnelda-heldenweib-a-c9188c28-0002-0001-0000-000014345745 2025-01-22 Der Spiegel de 2195-1349 Raymund Hörnle (born 1930) was from Kirchheim unter Teck and worked as a construction foreman. During World War II, he was part of the Flieger-Hitler Youth, though by his own account, he only joined in order to avoid potential service in the Waffen-SS. His father was an early member of the Nazi Party, being the recipient of a Golden Party Badge. Hörnle had built all the makeshift explosives for the DA's terrorist attacks in his workshop garage in Kirchheim's Jesingen quarter.1982-01-22 Die Biederleute als Brandstifter https://www.zeit.de/1982/04/die-biederleute-als-brandstifter/komplettansicht Die Zeit de-DE 0044-20705 August 2014 Ewiggestriger Hetzer und Rädelsführer https://www.endstation-rechts.de/news/ewiggestriger-hetzer-und-raedelsfuehrer Endstation Rechts de-DE Heinz Colditz (born 2 January 1930) was from Leipzig and worked as an otorhinolaryngologist, specializing as an ear doctor, in Kirchheim unter Teck. He was previously ousted from a doctor's office in Herrenberg for refusing to treat patients with a foreign background. He was a member of Deutsches Jungvolk and became a Hauptscharführer in the Hitler Youth by 1945. Since 1975, Colditz was a follower and financial backer of Roeder, whom he occasionally sheltered at his house in Dettingen. He considered Roeder the direct successor of Adolf Hitler as "Führer", hosted meetings between Roeder and other Völkisch movement figures at his home and recruited Hörnle, a patient of his, to the DA.Schubert Florian Die 'Deutschen Aktionsgruppen' - Teil 1 https://antifainfoblatt.de/aib136/die-deutschen-aktionsgruppen-teil-1#:~:text=1Der%20am%202.,Hauptscharf%C3%BChrer%20bei%20der%20Hitlerjugend%20gewesen. Antifaschistisches Infoblatt deEidemüller Peter 20 February 2020 Rechter Terror aus Kirchheim vor 40 Jahren - Anschläge mit Bomben aus Jesingen https://www.ntz.de/region/artikel_rechter-terror-aus-kirchheim-vor-40-jahren-anschlaege-mit-bomben-aus-jesingen.html Nürtinger Tageszeitung de-DE Trial In January 1982, the defendants were tried at the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart-Stammheim. An investigation showed that the Deutsche Aktionsgruppen had spontaneously decided to attack the Vietnamese refugee accommodation after reading about the refugee situation in a newspaper, having previously failed to cause substantial damage or injury during a school bombing in Hamburg. All three perpetrators issued full confessions and admissions of guilt. DA founder Manfred Roeder denied any connection and blamed his companions for acting at their own volition. Sibylle Vorderbrügge and Raymund Hörnle voiced regret, stating they "believed Germany was in a state of war" and that they "only wanted to scare foreigners, not kill anyone". Each of their lawyers claimed that Vorderbrügge, described as "naïve, undiscerning, immature, and childish" was "mentally and sexually dependent" on Roeder, while Hörnle, described as "simple-minded", had been manipulated into participating with flattery and the lure of friendship by the academic Heinz Colditz.1982-06-27 Miese Weise https://www.spiegel.de/politik/miese-weise-a-a760e13a-0002-0001-0000-000014345350 Der Spiegel de 2195-1349 On 28 June 1982, Vorderbrügge and Hörnle were sentenced to life in prison for murder, attempted murder, and membership in a terror network. Colditz was sentenced to six years imprisonment for aiding and abetting. Though Manfred Roeder did not directly participate in the murders, he was found guilty of leading an unconstitutional terror network and received 13 years imprisonment, of which he ultimately served eight before being released on good behaviour. Roeder voiced contempt for Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian people during court proceedings, calling them "half-apes". Ten other persons, mostly relatives and family friends of the defendants, were also tried for affiliation with the Deutsche Aktionsgruppen. Hörnle's son was sentenced to 21 months of probation for providing his father with material for several bombs. Colditz's daughter, Gabrielle S., was a member of Deutsche Aktionsgruppen and had introduced Vorderbrügge to her father and later Roeder. Gabrielle S. received four years imprisonment for committing a bombing at the Bullenhuser Damm subcamp memorial. Her husband Klaus-Peter S. was given two years on parole. In 1997, in line with German law that allows for release petitions after 15 years, Vorderbrügge and Hörnle were released. They did not return to the radical right-wing underground and are presumed to have not reoffended. Aftermath As only room 34 was structurally damaged, with superficial damage to the façade and neighbouring rooms, the accommodation remained. On 4 September 1980, a memorial service was held in Öjendorf Cemetery in Billstedt, where Hamburg mayor Hans-Ulrich Klose read a eulogy. The bodies were later exhumed and buried elsewhere. Besides the clearing off the burned area by building staff, no further assistance was provided.2017-08-25 Vergessene rassistische Morde: Wann gedenkt Hamburg der Mordopfer Nguyễn Ngọc Châu und Đỗ Anh Lân? https://www.linksfraktion-hamburg.de/vergessene-rassistische-morde-wann-gedenkt-hamburg-der-mordopfer-nguyen-ngoc-chau-und-do-anh-lan/ Linksfraktion Hamburg de The attack did not stay in public view for long. The event was not memorialised in city or government services until 2014.Vu Vanessa 2018-06-21 Rassistischer Brandanschlag: Warum hat Deutschland Do Anh Lan vergessen? https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2018-06/rassistischer-brandanschlag-hamburg-halskestrasse-vietnamesen-gedenken Die Zeit de-DE 0044-2070 In 2020, on the 40th anniversary, a memorial pillar was installed at Öjendorf Cemetery.17 December 2020 Endlich ein Erinnerungsort (Denkmal Friedhof Öjendorf) https://www.hamburg-global.de/v1.0/placemarks/110 Hamburg Global The unveiling was attended by the survivors of the bombing, the deceased's godparents Gisela and Heribert von Goldammer, and the mother of Đỗ Anh Lân.2020-09-02 Nach Anschlag auf Vietnamesen 1980 - "Die Mutter braucht einen Ort zu trauern" https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/nach-anschlag-auf-vietnamesen-1980-die-mutter-braucht-einen-100.html Deutschlandfunk Kultur de On 11 May 2024, Halskestraße was renamed Châu-und-Lân Straße in honor of the two victims.8 May 2024 Wir dokumentieren eine Pressemitteilung: Umbenennung der Halskestraße in Châu-und-Lân Straße am 11. Mai 2024 https://www.fsk-hh.org/blog/2024/05/08/wir_dokumentieren_eine_pressemitteilung_umbenennung_der_halskestrasse_in_chau_und_lan_strasse_am_11_mai_2024 FSK See also 1984 Duisburg arson attack 1992 Mölln arson attack 1993 Solingen arson attack 2024 Solingen arson attack References Category:1980 building bombings Category:1980 murders in Germany Category:1980s in Hamburg Category:Aftermath of the Vietnam War Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Germany Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1980 Category:Anti-immigration politics in Germany Category:Arson deaths Category:Arson in 1980 Category:August 1980 in Europe Category:Right-wing terrorist incidents in the 1980s Category:Building and structure fires in Germany Category:Racially motivated violence in Europe Category:Residential building arson attacks in Europe Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1980 Category:Residential building bombings in Europe Category:Murder in Hamburg Category:Building bombings in Germany Category:Building and structure fires in Europe Category:Urban fires in Europe Category:Terrorist incidents in Germany in 1980 Category:Neo-Nazi attacks in Germany Category:Anti-Vietnamese sentiment Category:Vietnamese people murdered abroad Category:Terrorist incidents involving incendiary devices