In 2016, nine people were murdered in the attack on the Munich OEZ. Most of the victims were young people, younger than the shooter and completely unknown to him. They had dreams, a life ahead of them and were only at the crime scene by chance that day. For their parents and siblings, this is still hard to bear. But that's not all: the memory of this attack is defined by the fact that an entire city was in a state of emergency for hours. Collective fear, panic at phantom crime scenes. The murdered victims are forgotten. For years, the relatives have been fighting for visibility and recognition and hope that the time has now come. On Friday, July 22, 2016, nine people were murdered in Munich, eight young people and a 45-year-old woman. The perpetrator killed them because they had a migrant background. For their families and friends, this is still hard to bear. But that's not all: they are still fighting for visibility and recognition. Because it takes a long time for the act to no longer be classified as a rampage, but as a racist attack. Some of the relatives have now agreed to tell their story in the BR political magazine Kontrovers. Can wanted to become a professional footballer Can Leyla was 14 years old at the time and one of the victims of the OEZ attack. His dream was to become a professional footballer. At the time of the attack, he was supposed to have had football training. But because it was cancelled that day, he met up with friends in a fast food restaurant at the OEZ. Attack begins in a fast food restaurant July 22, 2016 was not chosen by chance by the perpetrator. Five years earlier, a right-wing terrorist had murdered 77 people in Norway on that day. The perpetrator of the OEZ attack is an 18-year-old German-Iranian. There is much evidence that he was a supporter of National Socialism. He got a gun and more than 300 rounds of ammunition from the darknet. He used it to enter the fast food restaurant at the OEZ. Shots fired at fleeing people like Sevda In 18 seconds, the perpetrator murdered five young people and seriously injured a boy. He then goes outside and shoots more people. A man in a parking lot dies, as does a woman who was shopping. Her name is Sevda Dag. Akin Erdem was very close to her. She was his friend's mother and she was like a mother to him too. Perpetrator murders people based on his enemy image The perpetrator then makes his way into the shopping center. At the entrance he fills his magazines and then goes into the OEZ. At that moment a man came up the escalator, reports Ludwig Waldinger from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office from the investigation. A twenty-year-old man, "who again corresponded to this enemy image," says the police officer. The perpetrator shoots him four times in the back. The young man becomes the assassin's last fatality. Two and a half hours after the attack, two police officers catch the assassin, who then shoots himself. Tough fight for recognition as a racist act Initially, the investigations do not mention racism or a right-wing extremist attack, although documents are found on the assassin's computer that point in this direction. For the time being, however, the investigating authorities are sticking to the classification as an act of desperation by a lone perpetrator. Over a year after the attack, however, the relatives and their lawyer Claudia Neher were given access to the files and found a document by the attacker: a manifesto about "foreign subhumans". They then made a persistent effort to have the act recognized as a right-wing extremist crime. In 2019, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office classified the crime as "politically motivated violent crime - right." More than three years after the attack. Severe traumatization of the relatives Akin Erdem spent the whole night searching for his mother Sevda with his friend's family. But they did not find her. Hasan and Sibel Leyla found out in the early hours of the morning that their son Can was among the victims. To this day, many relatives cannot talk about the day their friends or family members were murdered. The attack at the Olympia shopping center traumatized them and destroyed their lives. Relatives feel left alone Although the sympathy is great at first, many families still feel left alone. The cultural barriers seem too high, the fear of contact too great. Politicians only got in touch after several weeks, regrets Hasan Leyla. Year after year, the city of Munich commemorates the attack. But in recent years relatives stayed away. They were hardly included in the planning. That should change this year. But because the city of Munich did not fulfill the relatives' greatest wish - with a memorial service at 5 p.m. at the time of the attack - they are planning their own event again. Author: Christian Stücken