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Berlin

Seymour Gris: Racist attack in Prenzlauer Berg

A group of German men and women beat up a Tunisian man in the normally placid Kollwitzkiez. What to do?

In our upcoming police-themed June issue, there’s an article about Berlin’s “dangerous places” – areas where the police have special powers due to high crime rates. Prenzlauer Berg’s Kollwitzkiez isn’t on the list. Well, maybe it should be…

Four o’clock Sunday morning, outside the Kulturbrauerei. A 25 year-old Tunisian man is surrounded by a group of young Germans who start shouting “Scheisskanake” (“bloody wog”). He tries to flee but they catch up, push him down, start kicking his body and battering him with planks found in the street. Finally, he escapes and runs away, as they hurl bottles and stones at him; he manages to call the police, who take him to the hospital.

Tolerant, Bionade-drinking Prenzlauer Bergers are going to blame the “bridge and tunnel” youth that drive in from the suburbs for a night out – so they can continue to enjoy life in their bubble of righteousness.

What to do? Ramp up police in Prenzlauer Berg on weekends? Random ID checks for white youths with very short hair?

Or maybe require that all Brandenburgers spend six months in a multi-ethnic Kreuzberg high school.