Potzlow, Germany
Three neo-Nazis have confessed to torturing and killing a former buddy of theirs because, they said, he “looked like a Jew.” The three young men, ages 17, 18, and 24, ran into the victim, Marinus Schöberl, 17, on the streets of the tiny village of Potzlow during a night of heavy drinking and started harassing him over his hip-hop clothes and dyed hair. They hauled him to a nearby farm, forced him to kneel with his head on a feed trough, and stamped on his neck until he was dead. “The details of the murder are so gruesome,” chief prosecutor Gerd Schnittcher said, “that they are almost indescribable. It was bestial.” The three said they got the idea for the style of murder from a scene in the movie American History X.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.