The shock of the attack on the Christmas market in the central German city of Magdeburg continues to reverberate. and more than 200 injured when a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia drove a car into a crowd of revelers.
In the midst of this tragedy, victim assistance has received increased attention. For many of the victims, the wounds are not only physical but also psychological. Trauma therapy, counseling services, and self-help groups help to provide a safe space to process what they have experienced.
But crisis professionals face unique challenges, especially in a city like Magdeburg, in the German state of , where no attack like this has ever happened before. They help victims to channel their various traumatic experiences.
“It’s the images that they’ve seen. The sounds of the car as it was coming towards them. The smells. Not being able to sleep. Basically, all of this is difficult for a person to grasp at first. In victim counseling, you have to try to absorb these feelings,” Marco Vogler, the Catholic state police chaplain of Saxony-Anhalt, told DW. This is a major challenge, he said, especially since each person needs to be cared for in a different way, and this means finding the right person to talk to. It is ultimately about talking about feelings so that they can be dealt with: Grief, anger, outrage, fears.
Weisser Ring NGO helps victims
The victims of Magdeburg are also receiving support from the Weisser Ring (White Ring). The non-profit organization describes itself as Germany’s largest aid organization for victims of crime and violence. “People have lost loved ones, people have seen terrible things — nobody should have to deal with something like this on their own,” Kerstin Godenrath, regional chair of the White Ring in Saxony-Anhalt, wrote in a press release.
“Those affected are still in a state of shock and despair. They are barely ‘functioning’ in their daily lives. They suffer from pain and a variety of injuries, and of course, they are worried about permanent damage, whether they will be able to continue in their profession, and how this terrible experience will affect their future,” Godenrath wrote to DW in response to an inquiry. Victims often feel abandoned; the White Ring is often the first point of contact for help. One of the biggest challenges is handling the trauma. “The hope at this point is that people will get professional psychotherapeutic help, which the Weisser Ring cannot provide. However, we also guide them through the help system,” said Godenrath.
It can take months, if not years, to come to terms with the consequences of the attack. Magdeburg’s Christmas market was well attended at the time of the attack, and a correspondingly large number of people witnessed the attack who may need help later.
“What we need to do now, of course, is find all the victims or encourage them to come forward,” explained Marco Vogler, who, in addition to his role as state police chaplain, is also responsible for the emergency and telephone counseling service in Saxony-Anhalt. Often in such terrible situations, the first thing people want to do is get away from the scene, Vogler said. “Some might just have a scratch and only realize later that it’s more than just a scratch,” he added.
Vogler tries to meet with victims in a neutral environment. However, it can sometimes be helpful to visit the scene of the horror together with a victim. “For example, by returning to the square where the Christmas market was set up as part of follow-up care, in order to demystify it. So that the place can become normal again and lose its aura — even if a shadow will always be cast over it.”
A commissioner to give victims a voice
The nationwide assistance for the victims of the Magdeburg attack is being coordinated by Roland Weber, Germany’s victim commissioner, appointed by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The victim commissioner is the central point of contact for anyone affected by extremism or terrorist attacks in Germany. This may include bereaved, injured persons, witnesses, first responders, and owners of businesses or facilities that have become crime scenes as a result of an attack.
The commissioner responds to the concerns of all victims and works with the relevant agencies to provide practical, financial, and psychosocial support. He or she is also the “political voice” of victims and advocates on their behalf in the political and public arenas.
Weber told public broadcaster ZDF that he believes that well over 500 people were affected by the attack. Like state police chaplain Vogler, Weber expects that many of those affected will not contact public authorities or victim support services until days or weeks later, once they realize that they are suffering psychologically.
“The other group includes the families of the bereaved, who are severely affected. But even the relatives of the seriously and critically injured often come forward much later. But they need help too.”
Lessons learned from the Berlin Breitscheidplatz attack
Weber pointed out on ZDF that those affected are entitled to swift assistance, giving them access to outpatient trauma clinics “in order to avert severe post-traumatic stress disorder.” The authorities had learned from the 2016 Islamist attack on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz Christmas market.
Weber said that the victims were taken care of far too late at the time. And there was also “far too little was done in terms of compensation. In some cases, foreign victims were not entitled to any.” As a result, the laws were then changed retroactively.
Weber intends to keep track now of victim assistance after the Magdeburg attack.
This article was originally written in German.
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