Getty Images“I feel bad, I still do,” said Eid Wicht, as she stood in a Christmas market near the spot where the car drove through Friday, killing five people and injuring more than two hundred.
“My granddaughter was here. I called her because my daughter told me something happened here. And she didn’t answer for two hours.”
There is deep sadness – and anger – at the government and at the immigrants. “It can’t go on like this,” Eidwicht said.
A 50-year-old Saudi refugee has been arrested in connection with the attack, but his motive is not known.
Authorities say Talibul Mohsen was an “unusual” attacker. Germany’s Christmas markets and festivals have been attacked before, particularly by radical Islamists.
Abdul Mohsen has been described as a critic of Islam and has also expressed support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party on social media, hailing the party for fighting the same enemy “to protect Germany”.
The AfD has not commented on the posts – and the party is planning a mourning procession in Magdeburg later on Monday, attended by National Party leader Elise Wedel.
His party is currently leading opinion polls ahead of federal elections on February 23, particularly in states such as Saxony-Anhalt in the former East Germany.
The attack has brought two major election issues to the fore, security and immigration, and AfD figures have highlighted both since the attack.
Despite many of the suspect’s anti-Islamic statements, Martin Reichardt, head of the AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt, said in a statement that “the attack in Magdeburg shows that Germany is moving towards political and religious fanaticism. Being pushed which has its origins in another world.”
In a post on X, Weidel said the government’s discussion of new security laws after the attack “should not distract from the fact that Magdeburg would not have been possible without uncontrolled immigration. !”
ReutersThere will also be a counter-demonstration and anti-apartheid groups in Magdeburg have accused the AfD of exploiting the attack.
David Begrich from Miteinander eV said the city’s people needed a chance to breathe.
“In immigrant communities, there’s a lot of concern about being made a scapegoat,” he said. “We don’t want that. We want to organize solidarity across society, but at the same time we are sensitive to the voices of those who are now reacting with fear and uncertainty.”
Germans are asking how the attack could have happened, when security was already heightened at Christmas markets and when authorities had repeatedly investigated the suspect in recent years.
One review deemed the threat he posed “very unspecific”, while a tip-off against him in September 2023 appears to have fallen through the cracks.
In another apparent security failure, the driver also managed to drive through a gap that was left open for emergency access when it should have been filled by a police van.
Stallholders at the Christmas market are now allowed to return, throw out old food and remove their goods and stock.
The person I contacted did not want to speak to the BBC. It’s all very raw.
The past few days have also seen a trend of hostility towards journalists, particularly after around 2,000 people joined a far-right protest in Magdeburg on Saturday night.
The Association of German Journalists said there had been attacks and threats against the press and called for more police protection.
A BBC team joined mourners gathered in Cathedral Square for a live stream of the vigil for the victims of the attack and many who spoke to them said it was important to show solidarity at a time of terrible suffering.
But one woman struck a note of caution. “There are some Nazis here who don’t like journalists,” he said. “Please be careful.”