On August 22, 1980 two young Vietnamese Boat People were murdered by organized Neo-Nazis in Hamburg. Despite being the first officially documented racist murder recognized by a German court since 1945 this case was actually forgotten by the media and the civil society until 2012, when it was rediscovered by chance. Institutionalized racism is also a decisive factor to understand the pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen against Roma refugees and Vietnamese contract workers, which lasted from August, 22-26, 1992. Reinforced by the social crisis within the German reunification process in the early 1990s discriminatory discourses and practices against racialized immigrants and asylum-seekers played a crucial role in the national political debate. These discourses were amplified in the mediascape and shaped the practices of local administrations and police forces.
I argue that the interaction of these institutions created an ideological and social climate in which racist violence was supported by broad sections of the German society and even enabled pogroms as the ultimate form of institutionalized racism. Its powerful effects shaped not only the events before and within the pogrom, but also its aftermaths like the largely failed police investigations and legal proceedings. Despite the immense societal and cultural-political importance of these events, the research and analysis are still emerging. The marginal status of both cases is also reflected in the delayed and contested public commemorations as well as in the marginalization of the perspectives of the victimized communities.