Content Note: This reading contains descriptions of racially motivated violence, murder and serious bodily harm, as well as racism and discrimination. The descriptions may be particularly distressing for people who experience racism, and/or have experienced racist violence, trauma or similar.
Said Etris Hashemi, born on 1 September 1996, is the son of Afghan refugees. He was a direct victim of the right-wing extremist terrorist attack that took place in Hanau, Germany, on 19 February 2020: in the racially motivated attack, Said Etris lost his younger brother Said Nesar and many of his childhood friends. He survived the attack, albeit with serious injuries, including several gunshot wounds to his neck. Today, the scars from the gunshots adorn the cover of his book: ‘’The day I was supposed to die. How the terror in Hanau changed my life forever”.
Since the attack, he has become an ambassador for greater justice in Germany, actively using his voice and campaigning against racism and discrimination. Said Etri Hashemi’s story is possibly the most personal account ever written by a survivor of an assassination attempt. In his book, he shares his perspective on the historic day that changed Germany forever.