The Nazi Case

If you utter the name of Beate Zschape....generally, there'll be some reaction by a German (at least most Germans).

What they will tell you in four brief lines is that ten people were killed....eight Turkish businessmen, one German cop and a Greek guy....on the streets of Germany. It happened somewhere between 2000 and 2007.  Beate was one member of a neo-Nazi group who dreamed up the murders....accomplished them for the most part without the German cops connecting the dots or thinking Nazis were behind the deal.  And then the German will tell you that since 2011....the German court has been trying to deal with Beate and the case simply never ends.

Well....this week, Beate announced on Monday that she's going to speak....something that she hasn't done with the cops or in court....for roughly five years.  Presently, no one knows what the heck she will say.

The rest of this story?  There were two guys connected to the murders and Beate (all Germans).  Both guys committed suicide when the whole thing unraveled.  She's the only member left standing and can be court episode.

Beate won't cooperate with anyone.  Not her lawyers...not the police...not the judge.....so this case has gone awful slow because there just isn't that much to go on.

The cops?  Well....one might say that they really screwed up in a big way and just kept overlooking evidence.

Oddly, she is the face now of neo-Nazis in Germany.  At age forty......she's had five years in the press.  There's probably not been more than a week to go by.....without some court topic mentioned.  Some Germans question the whole process and if any conclusion can ever be gained.  Some think.....that if she'd just admit guilt and tell some part of the story.....they'd just wrap this up....hand her twenty-odd years in prison for her part, and end the torment for a dozen-odd legal folks who've not had any other case but this one for four long years.

For a number of months....Beate has tried to fire the lawyers assigned to her, but the court won't allow that to occur....in fear that it'd require the case to restart from day one.

My scenario?  She's tried to orchestrate her own case and dictate conditions....failing the whole way.  So, I suspect that she wants to stand up in court and do two things.  She might just hint that besides the ten murders and some miscellaneous minor crimes....she's done much more and making the cops sweat even more that it's a bigger case than they suspect.  Then she might say that her rights have been screwed over and she can't get a fair case.

If you were looking for some German drama material for a mini-series, this is it.