Bodies, spaces, and commemoration – racism as a multisensorial event in the context of Hanau, February 19 2020

This article offers a close analysis of three central works that address the racist terror attack of February 19, 2020, in Hanau, Germany: the autobiography by Hashemi (2024), the biography of Gökhan Gültekin written by his brother Çetin Gültekin and Koçak (2024), and the documentary Das Deutsche Volk directed by Das Deutsche Volk (2025). Together, these texts and visual materials not only document the events and their aftermath but also provide intimate and embodied accounts of how racist violence is lived, remembered, and resisted. By examining themes such as the body, spaces and places, and commemorative practices, the article conceptualizes racism as a multisensorial event, one that shapes and is shaped by the lived experiences of minorities in Germany. This approach draws on social and sensory theories of the body, as well as the decolonial work of Achille Mbembe. Through this sensory lens, the article demonstrates how survivors, families, and communities articulate forms of knowledge that challenge national narratives, disrupt politics of erasure, and insist on accountability and remembrance.