Christmas and New Year are approaching. It was during this time that I encountered the most dangerous incident in Germany. I would like to share my personal experience with you, hoping that everyone can take a warning.
I have traveled through most of Europe, including Paris, Naples, Eastern Europe and so on, and escaped unscathed. Unexpectedly, the most terrifying and dangerous thing happened right at my doorstep - Cologne, Germany.
The first-person perspective of an eyewitness
Senior Chinese studying abroad must remember the “New Year’s Eve sexual assault incident” in 2015/16, which shocked the world at that time.
The hardest hit area happened in the square in front of the Cologne Cathedral, and I was "lucky" to be at the scene. Although I didn't see the indescribable crime scenes with my own eyes (most of them happened after the scene), to be honest, I felt that the scene was out of control at the time...
At that time, I lived in Sülz, near the university. At about eight o'clock on December 31, fireworks started to be set off everywhere in the city. They were very noisy and filled the air with smoke.
It was almost ten o'clock and my friend and I decided to go to the city to join in the fun. When we went downstairs, we could see young people standing on the street and at the station. The U-Bahn could no longer arrive on time. We had to wait for a long time to get on the bus because there were few trains and the carriages were crowded. The young people who had drunk too much began to talk loudly and dance and sing. The carriages were vibrating up and down. Thanks to the good quality of the German subway.
When I arrived at Neumarkt, the atmosphere started to change. The subway station was full of people, and there were a lot more dark-skinned people! I don’t mean to be discriminatory. The proportion of black people in Germany is not high, but there were a lot more black people and North African-looking people visible to the naked eye that day! What's even more exaggerated is that I saw a few groups of people at the station blatantly engaging in sex trafficking, and I quickly flashed...
Live picture
I was supposed to transfer to the Dom main train station square, but for safety reasons the bus had stopped, so I could only walk there. There were no elderly people on the road, all young people.
It was past 11 o'clock when we arrived at the square in front of the main fire of the church. The scene was breathtaking... The carnival was not like this. The ground was full of garbage, mainly the people present. It was completely different from the ordinary citizens. It could be said to be a gathering of gangsters!
As it approached midnight, more and more people gathered together and began to set off fireworks and firecrackers randomly. Some people began to smash wine bottles on the ground, without any concern whether they would burn or injure others.
The last thing that made us decide to leave the scene immediately happened. Three young men lit small firecrackers and deliberately threw them at us. They exploded at our feet. I immediately identified who did it, went over and greeted his family cordially, and then immediately decided that I could not stay any longer and left immediately!
Everyone knows what happened after reading the news, and it is really frightening!
Since the vicious incident in 2015/16, major cities in Germany have been facing serious threats every New Year, but there are still news reports every year about a large number of North African young people systematically trying to rebuild their lives.
So on New Year’s Eve, especially girls, don’t go to the streets to join in the fun!
"New Year's Eve Sexual Assault Incident" in 2015/16
During the New Year's Eve celebrations in 2015/2016, collective sexual assault incidents committed by (or appeared to be) North African and Arab men occurred in many cities in Germany, with Cologne being the largest.
Due to the unprecedented scale of the case, the fact that most of the perpetrators were asylum seekers from Islamic countries, and the fact that the German authorities initially concealed the incident due to the identity of the perpetrators, it further aroused the German people's concerns about the influx of Muslim immigrants and questioned the German government's policy of accepting Muslim refugees during the European immigration crisis.
That night in Cologne, as many as 1,000 North African and Arab men gathered in the square outside the central train station. They surrounded and sexually assaulted and robbed many German women who were celebrating the New Year or were present there. In addition to women, dozens of men were robbed and beaten.
Afterwards, the German police received more than 800 reports in Cologne (as of January 19, 2016), more than 500 of which involved sexual assault, and at least three women were raped. As of January 8, 2016, 31 suspects had been identified, 18 of whom were asylum seekers. The 31 people included 9 Algerians, 8 Moroccans, 5 Iranians, 4 Syrians, 2 Germans, 1 Iraqi, 1 Serbian and 1 American. Most of them were involved in theft and assault cases, and 3 involved sexual crimes.
It was reported that the perpetrators in Cologne may have been organized and planned, but Munich, director of the German Federal Criminal Investigation Bureau, later stated that "the sexual assault was not a well-thought-out and premeditated crime. Many people did gather together consciously on New Year's Eve, but there was no intention to commit a crime from the beginning." The incident was described as "shocking the whole of Germany" and "just the tip of the iceberg". Similar incidents also occurred in
Hamburg , Stuttgart and Dusseldorf . Many women were molested and robbed on Hamburg's Reeperbahn, and the Hamburg police have received more than 50 reports. Stuttgart police said several women were attacked on Palace Square in the city center. Dusseldorf police have received 11 reports. German police documents show similar incidents occurred in 12 states across the country.
After the Cologne sexual assault incident, many German media initially did not report the incident for the sake of "political correctness" because the perpetrator was an ethnic minority. The Cologne incident was only spread on social media until January 4, 2016. Until January 4, 2016, " Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung " reported "Sexuelle Übergriffe in Köln – Oberbürgermeisterin beruft" with the title "Sexuelle Übergriffe in Köln – Oberbürgermeisterin beruft" Krisentreffen ein), the German media followed up one after another. On January 8, the North Rhine-Westphalia government announced that Cologne Police Chief Albert Albert had been ordered to retire early.
Picture/After the sexual assault incident in Cologne, the federal government hopes to tighten the law
By early July 2016, only 120 suspects had been identified, most of them from North Africa and Afghanistan. More than half of them were "refugees" who entered Germany in 2015. Four people involved were convicted by a German court, and two others were acquitted.
The holidays are approaching, and this year is completely open. There are more people at Christmas markets than in previous years. The police are also very busy this year. Police in many cities have received threatening information about Christmas markets, whether it is bombs or something, so you should still pay attention to safety in places with large crowds! Especially New Year’s Eve!
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