{"id":75233,"date":"2025-11-10T22:07:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=75233"},"modified":"2026-09-27T20:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:38:15","slug":"magdeburg-attack-coping-with-the-violence","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/what-holds-us-together\/magdeburg-attack-coping-with-the-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Magdeburg attack: how do you cope with the violence?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\n\tWhat holds us together<\/a><\/div>\r\n

\r\n The Magdeburg attack: how do you cope with the violence? <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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Almost a year after the attack on the Christmas market, the trial has begun \u2013 while many of those affected are grappling with racist assaults.
\nBy Elena Jaekel<\/a> (text), L. Kellner<\/a>, F. Andorra<\/a>, M. Trammer<\/a> (film)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n

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On Christmas Eve, a few days after the attack<\/strong> on Magdeburg\u2019s Christmas market, Fatima A. and her husband drove to Hasselbachplatz, the only place where you could still get something to eat at that time. Her husband had picked up the intensive care nurse, who prefers to remain anonymous, from her late shift. \u2018Fucking foreigners, fucking Arabs, we\u2019ll kill you,\u2019 a man suddenly shouted as he prowled around the couple. That night, Fatima A. and her partner ended up in the same hospital where, only days before, she had cared for some of those injured in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six people died and more than 300 were injured when a man drove into the crowd at the Christmas market in Saxony-Anhalt\u2019s state capital in December 2024. The trial of the defendant, Taleb A., has now begun, eleven months later, under the tightest security. Sebastian Hesse of the broadcaster MDR called it \u2018the biggest trial in Saxony-Anhalt\u2019s post-war history\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack destroyed lives. Families are mourning loved ones; others are living with physical and psychological injuries. At the same time, many have faced hatred and exclusion ever since. The mood in the city turned soon after the attack. People reported a rise in racially motivated assaults, and the public debate fixated on the perpetrator\u2019s Saudi origins \u2013 even though he regularly shared content from the far-right AfD on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n

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