White Terror: A True Story of Murder, Bombings and Germany’s Far Right

by Jacob Kushner

In a tour de force of investigative journalism, White Terror tells for the first time the story of the National Socialist Underground in Germany – in an engrossing global story that examines violence, modern racism and national trauma.

Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of deep uncertainty: some four million East Germans found themselves out of a job. At first the three friends spent their nights wandering the streets, smoking, drinking, looking for trouble. Then they began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. Believing foreigners were a threat to their homeland, the three friends embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants.

In a tour de force of investigative journalism and novelistic storytelling, White Terror follows the National Socialist Underground, or NSU, from their radicalisation as young skinheads through their transformation into fully fledged terrorists carrying out bombings and assassinations while living on the run. But it’s also about something almost as terrifying: the German police and intelligence services that missed clues, mishandled far-right informants and repeatedly tried to paint the immigrant victims as mafiosos. Once the terror plot was revealed, the authorities shredded documents to cover up their mistakes and refused to acknowledge that their racism had led them astray.

A masterwork of reporting, White Terror reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.

Genres: History, Germany, Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Audiobook, Terrorism

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2024

About the author

Jacob Kushner is an author, educator, and international correspondent who writes magazine and other longform stories from Africa, Germany, and the Caribbean.

He reports on migration and human rights, foreign aid and investment, terrorism and violent extremism, science and global health, climate change and wildlife, and press freedom.

His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Economist, National Geographic, The Nation, VQR, The Atavist, WIRED, Foreign Policy, and VICE. He has photographed for National Geographic and field-produced for VICE on HBO, and PBS NewsHour.

He is the author of China’s Congo Plan, and Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants, was published in 2024 by Grand Central (Hachette). Both were favorably reviewed in The New York Review of Books.

He has taught International Reporting and Migration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and he is currently a visiting professor at Columbia Journalism School in New York.

A former Fulbright Scholar, Max Planck Journalist in Residence, and Logan Nonfiction Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good, Jacob was a finalist for the Livingston Award for International Reporting. He speaks Dominican Spanish, Haitian Creole, conversational German, and basic French.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to overestimate how important it is to tell this story about how internalized racial prejudice led representatives of the German state and media to unintentionally help a neo-Nazi terrorist group: Between 2000 and 2011, the self-proclaimed National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed ten people, attempted to murder 43 more, committed three bombings and 15 robberies. The NSU was the biggest domestic terror threat after the leftist Red Army Fraction.

Kushner is here to meticulously reconstruct how the core trio, two men and a woman radicalized in the former GDR, went on a rampage and murdered nine people with immigration background, and yes, let's say their names:
Enver Şimşek,
Abdurrahim Özüdoğru,
Süleyman Taşköprü,
Habil Kılıç,
Mehmet Turgut,
İsmail Yaşar,
Theodoros Boulgarides,
Mehmet Kubaşık and
Halit Yozgat.
Also, they murdered policewoman Michèle Kiesewetter (her colleague barely survived being shot in head). What's particularly shocking here is that police, politics, state and media for years referred to the series as the "Dönermorde", Döner being a dish with Turkish origins that is very popular in Germany - the term insinuated that the murders were the result of some kind of feud between immigrant groups and organized crime connected to immigrants, which was exactly what the people responsible for finding the perpetrators assumed. But the killers were white bio-Germans, they were fascists.

And of course, Kushner's research is great, and I applaud that he highlights this story for English-speaking audiences, because there is A LOT to learn here, and not only for Germans and Germany. I also applaud that he reveals the destiny of the victims and their families instead of being carried away by "evil": He sees that the terrorists were three banal losers who went berserk, and that they as people are not what's interesting here. What's interesting is how the system and society failed to stop them, and what that meant and stills means for the loved ones of the victims and, ultimately, all of us in Germany.

On to my criticism, which is probably strongly influenced by the fact that I have already heard a lot about the NSU and the failed investigations, so maybe that book isn't even written for me. I think the sociological background of radicalization in East Germany and many other factors that contributed to what happened here are not discussed deeply and seriously enough. For instance, we get arguments like: "But XY democratic party didn't care", which is obviously way too simplistic and thus explains nothing. Granted, this is a huge clusterfuck of a story, but the attempt to explain the multi-layered causes is where the lessons lie.

But as a recap, this is valuable, and I think that the book is generally aimed at non-German audiences with different needs. And people should hear this tale and think about its implications, as well as how we can stand up against neo-Nazis everywhere.

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacob Kushner has a lot he wants to write about in his book, Look Away. He wants to discuss Germany's thriving neo-Nazis, a specific trio of serial killer neo-Nazis, the families of the victims, and the extreme failure of Germany's police force. Any one of these subjects could be an excellent book. Unfortunately, Kushner tries to cover all of them in a scant 250 or so pages and it becomes a problem.

There are some very good aspects of Look Away and they aren't hard to find. Kushner is clearly passionate about all of these subjects and if you isolate any one thing in the book, he can write rather compellingly. Kushner makes a real effort to tell the story of the victims in a compassionate way. He clearly hates neo-Nazis. (Same, bro.)

The problem is the sheer scope. The first half or so of the book tackles the Neo-Nazi vs. punk movement. The hateful trio is introduced as well, but it felt like it was way more about the background and ideologies of a whole group and not just the main players. There are also characters who probably could have been eliminated from the text such as Katharina. She is by no means not worthy of being part of the narrative. However, she needed more page count to do her story justice or to be cut entirely because she isn't pivotal enough in the actual crimes and subsequent trial. By the time the book gets to the killing spree of immigrants and trial, the flow starts to feel rushed. Kushner needed to focus on one or two subjects or expand the book extensively.

The last thing which kept me from truly enjoying this book was Kushner's repeated criticisms of Germany's police force. I know nothing about Germany's law enforcement. However, Kushner does not miss an opportunity to spew invective at the job police did during the investigations. Again, I am not doubting Kushner's characterization as I don't know, but I do object to the number of times he feels the need to say it. He made his point and he needs to trust the reader that they understand and remembered what he has reported.

There is some very good and important information in here, but it does not succeed as a cohesive narrative.

(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)

[Ula Tardigrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping tale. While there are many stories about radicalization in the US, I never imagined how big a problem it is in Germany, even though I am interested in European politics. Written like a thriller, this book not only describes a spectacular case of a domestic Nazi terrorist group, but also offers fascinating insights into recent German history. I must warn you that it can be harrowing at times - the most frustrating parts for me were those describing how the state and relevant authorities ignored or even supported radical individuals.

Recommended for anyone interested not only in international affairs, but also in how evil can be born and thrive.

Thanks to the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

[Matthew McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over all a good account of the the origins of the NSU and the resurgence of the far right in 90's Germany till today. It also gives valuable insight in to the systemic racial bias of German investigators and police. Though the sprinkling of 'centerist' narratives that the DDR was an oppressive police state that appear from time to time in the book did cause a few eye rolls.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repulsive, abhorrent, malignant. Must read.

[Lucy Croxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it immensely, despite it being hard to read as a result of its subject matter. Well written, disturbing.

[Anna Beers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bleak read and a real ACAB parable. The book mostly summarizes a modern spree of neo-Nazi killings of Turkish and other immigrants and their descendents, which the German police force and intelligence agencies are simply incapable of seeing as anything but immigrant-on-immigrant crime.

The author starts with a strong critique of the German police force and its destructive racism, and for a moment it seems like we might get a book like the Highest Law in the Land, which investigates far-right radicalization among U.S. sherrifs. It loses its verve though, and mostly turns into a straightforward stenography of the events of the case. It feels like the author could have presented more research on the political forces which led to this case — studies are introduced only intermittently, and you don't get much of a sense of ongoing debates around far-right violence in Germany.

The author is strongest when he writes about the ways that police serve to re-traumatize families in the wake of these killings. This part of the book reminded me of Missoula, which documented the frequent re-traumatization of sexual assault survivors by the police. The author's slightly depoliticized tone helps here, as if to imply that even your boomer dad would be horrified at the way the police constantly harassed the families of the murdered, and destroyed their reputations. The author doesn't go far enough in talking about how re-traumatization by police is itself part of this far-right terror stategy, even if the braindead neo-Nazis who orchestrated it only stumbled on to that part by accident. Still, a powerful part of the book.

Over time, it becomes apparent that the author's critique suffers because he's still committed to a framework where police and prisons are not an essential source of problems, but rather are just momentarily operating ineffectively and are in need of reform. His focus on the procedural errors that the police made, and the "light" sentences that some of the neo-Nazis received, seems almost inappropriate in light of the larger problems with institutional racism he clearly identifies. When 10 years in prison is not enough, it is because being in prison serves no reformatory purpose, especially in a society which implicitly valorizes neo-Nazis' values. Given the massive feeling of injustice the families felt directed at the uselessness and cruelty of the German government and police force, it seemed that focusing on the sentencing was misleading (though admittedly the light sentencing was clearly a further insult to the families). Any consideration of abolitionist perspectives could have helped contextualize this case's results, even if the author didn't sign on to them.

I'll finally say that most of the malfeasance by German police is readily recognizable as something the U.S. police would do, but some of it is really head-scratching. The mass shredding of documents, their overly credulous treatment of their informants, and their apparent coverup that one of their informants had witnessed one of the killings, feel, like, really extra. It's hard not think that members of Germany's intelligence agencies may themselves be infiltrated by the far-right (as is often the case in U.S. law enforcement). The author, alas, doesn't speculate too much on this possibility, appropriately or not.

[Sara Planz · Rating 4 out of 5]

SYNOPSIS
Not long after the Berlin Wall came down, three teenagers—a woman and two men—became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement and economic hardship as some four million East Germans found themselves out of a job. At first, the three friends spent their nights lingering in train stations, smoking, drinking, and looking for trouble. Then, they began attending far-right rallies with people called themselves National Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, these Neo-Nazis—also known as the National Socialist Underground—blamed minorities for their working-class men and women from countries like Turkey, Vietnam, and Greece who had been brought over as "guest workers” to fill jobs in Germanys' factories and mines. And so, from 2000 to 2011, the NSU began to kill them and their descendants one by one. It became the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust.

Inside family homes, police and intelligence agencies, and a Munich courtroom, which would witness Germany’s most sensational trial since Nuremberg, Look Away follows Beate Zschäpe and her two accomplices—and sometimes lovers—as they radicalized Germany’s far-right scene, escaped into hiding, and carried out their anti-immigrant killing spree. It also follows Katharina König, an Antifa punk who, sickened and frightened by the rise of Neo-Nazis in her hometown in the 1990s, began secretly tracking the NSU—and would later expose them to the world. This is the definitive account of how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence and how a nation and its government looked the other way until it was too late.

Radicalization is happening worldwide, and Germany is experiencing this in an explosive way. The rise of white supremacy, anti-immigrant sentiment, and anti-semitism was ignored for too long and swept aside by the authorities, leading to widespread violence from these hate groups. Author Jacob Kushner chronicles this, and readers will recognize many of the warning signs for organized hate that we are experiencing more than ever in the US. The threat to democracy around the world coming from domestic terrorists like these criminals is something we all need to fight against to stop the growth of these hate groups.

[madi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As stomach turning as this book is, it is an absolutely vital read.

´Never Again´ they promised. At school, we´re taught about the fervent efforts Germany goes to ensure its citizens remember, and learn from, the atrocities of world war II.
Yet Kushner reveals how much has not been learnt. How Neo-Nazism has risen and spread in the past 30 years, unchecked, and abetted, by German state institutions.

White Terror is a journalist´s investigation into three teenagers from Jena who would go on to form the NSU and become known for murdering 9 men based on the colour of their skin. Kushner follows Zschäpe´s, Mundlos and Böhnhardt from their radicalisation as teens, to bomb-making in garages, to using bank robberies to fund their terror against immigrants, to their murder-suicide and Zschäpe´s trial. Not only that, Kushner exposes and interrogates the blindness of German authorities ¨in the right eye¨, highlighting their role in failing to prevent, or actually allowing, the NSU to operate. From agents funding far-right activities through German taxpayers money, to preventing the arrests of their Neo-Nazi informants, to police on many occasions failing to prosecute, to the horrific treatment of victims´ families, to the shredding of documents containing vital information on the NSU... I could go on. Long story short, this isn´t just the true story of three neo-nazis who terrorised Germany. It also forces you to realise the fundamental shortcomings and institutionalised xenophobia of German institutions that failed to prevent them.

This was an unsettling insight into the threat that far right extremism poses to modern society - not just in Germany, but, as Kushner demonstrates in the epilogue, in the US too. Reading this as a British person in 2025 adds a further layer of discomfort. It also begs the question: What has not just Germany, but the world as a whole, actually learnt from the 1940s? Can we trust our institutions to resist far-right extremism?

Overall, an incredible piece of work: extensively researched, minutely detailed, and respectably written. A must read to understand how far-right extremism poses more of a threat than immigration and asylum-seekers ever will.

[Wisconsin Alumni]

Jacob Kushner ’10
Author

From the author:
Not long after the Berlin Wall fell, three teenagers became friends in the East German town of Jena. It was a time of excitement, but also of economic crisis: some four million East Germans found themselves out of jobs. The friends began attending far-right rallies with people who called themselves National Socialists: Nazis. Like the Hitler-led Nazis before them, they blamed minorities for their ills. From 2000 to 2011, they embarked on the most horrific string of white nationalist killings since the Holocaust. Their target: immigrants.

Look Away follows Beate Zschäpe and her two accomplices—and sometimes lovers—as they radicalized within Germany’s far-right scene, escaped into hiding, and carried out their terrorist spree. Unable to believe that the brutal killings and bombings were being carried out by white Germans, police blamed—and sometimes framed—the immigrants instead. Readers meet Gamze Kubaşık, whose family emigrated from Turkey to seek safety, only to find themselves in the terrorists’ sights. It also tracks Katharina König, an Antifa punk who would help expose the NSU and their accomplices to the world. A masterwork of reporting and storytelling, Look Away reveals how a group of young Germans carried out a shocking spree of white supremacist violence, and how a nation and its government ignored them until it was too late.

[Bob Entwistle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scary bit of reporting on the Far Right in Germany, focusing mainly on a series of murders and bank robberies committed by a group of 3 individuals with support from friends in the movement, police informants who were funding and enabling them instead of reporting their activities and an ensuing trial years later that dragged on for years.

Because the modus operandi of the group doesn't deviate much, the meticulous reporting of the murders and who the victims were starts to feel repetitive after a while. Especially since there is no "whodunit" suspense factor other than what might happen to the perpetrators in court eventually.

Worrisome in how pervasive the movement and their persecution of foreigners is and implications for the rest of us living in countries with ascendant anti-immigrant forces. My wish for this book would have been to give us more on the macro level, particularly what is going on with the political parties and in particular the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party that is getting stronger by the year. Most of the action in this book took place 10-25 years ago. Can we bring things up-to-date now?

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, and shocking in its exposure of incompetence and careless investigation-hampering racist attitudes in the German police, plus the laughable stupidity and stubbornness of the German security services (who funded tons of far right activity via their oh-so-clever-and-vital collection of informers, yes, well done for that). I really had no idea that neo-Nazism was so widespread and so violent in Germany from the 90s onwards. A lesson to all places and all governments where anti-immigrant or ethno-nationalist sentiment is fomenting or growing.

Also very moving in telling the victims’ stories and the struggles of their families for justice.

But not terribly well written, full of characters who are either peripheral or should have had more introduction, and generally trying to do too much in a limited format, sometimes over-egging the liberal pieties but undermining them with mishandled statistics.

(Is this official incompetence why we need to watch reassuring crime fiction on TV, because the real police really are that crap?)

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was horrifying -- the beginning was just story after story after story of senseless violence, followed by the main story where we follow specific people who become enmeshed in far-right ideas and commit horrific acts against innocent people. The violence was bad enough, but the families of the victims had no idea why their loved ones were chosen and we get to see the effects on them. We get to see a trial at the end, and a lot of the blame was put on the officers who blamed the victims for their involvement when it was never their fault. At the same time, it's easy to see why you wouldn't want to believe people can be so evil.
In the end, there is a stark remind that there are people like this in the US. This book proves how important it is to keep our eyes open and fight evil when we see it. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

[Christopher Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look Away isn't so much a particularly well written piece of non fiction, although it seems competently done to me.

What recommends this book to anyone who strives to understand the dark forces of neo-nazism, hyper nationalism and xenophobia in my opinion is the way it shines a light through the myriad layers of German society from the 1980s to the present as it tells the story of a band of kids who came up in the hard scrabble streets of a crumbling East Germany who are radicalized into brutal terrorists with a slew of murders on their heads.

Where this book shines is its depiction of the depths of human suffering experienced by the victims of neo nazi and other facists and most grievously by the families of the NSU's victims.

This isn't light reading but in my opinion the understanding you gain more than pays the price of admission.

[Ashlie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for this complimentary finished copy. 🖤

Look Away is the disgusting story of xenophobia in Germany in the early 2000s. Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt, and Beate Zschäpe were part of Germany’s far-right scene. They escalated from beating foreigners and leftists to committing robberies and then murders. They were influenced by Hitler and America’s KKK and took pride in their Nazi ancestors. Police blamed and framed immigrants; they couldn’t wrap their heads around terrorist attacks by white Germans, even though the far-right scene was quite prevalent.

Jacob Kushner does a fabulous job retelling this harrowing story. This non-fiction text reads as a fictional tale because it’s hard to believe human beings could be so cruel to each other, especially just based on their ancestry.

[Nicholas Pierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye-opening true story of domestic terrorism, willfully overlooked by police and bureaucracy in post-unification Germany. Kushner follows the three right-wing terrorists as they create a swathe of death and destruction, uncovering stunning oversights and incompetence by the authorities at almost every turn. More importantly, he centers the voices and experiences of the courageous immigrant survivors - the family and friends who sought justice for their murdered loved ones, even as they were unjustly profiled by the police who should have protected them. Kushner weaves material evidence together deftly with personal anecdotes to create a compelling narrative, inviting readers to reflect on how we might prevent these types of tragedy in the future.

[Ruth J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is terrifying and enraging but important to read. On one level, this is the story of 3 disaffected young people in Germany just after the fall of the Wall who became increasingly extreme in their right wing ideology, leading them eventually to become serial killers of “foreigners.” It is also stories of those random victims of these murders, chosen only because of their nationality, and the devastating effect of their murders of on their families. But it is also the story of the intelligence and law enforcement systems that because of its entrenched racism and xenophobia unintentionally and sometimes intentionally ignored obvious evidence that the bombings and killings were being done by white right wing extremists. The parallels to what is happening today both globally and in the US are frightening. But understanding this is critical, which makes this book so essential.

[Iayat Riaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was struck by the forensic precision with which Kushner examines the ways in which the ideological ideals of the past can persist within state institutions long after formal political change has taken place. In particular, his exploration of how unresolved historical narratives continue to shape discussions around national identity and historical memory felt deeply resonant to the tensions we hope to examine.

Overall, an emotionally difficult, but an extremely critical read in the current political age!

[Gabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a treasure trove of information on the contemporary far-right in Germany. It was an incredible experience reading about the rise of the AfD in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony, and all of the neo-fascists that cleared the way for those who have racist, xenophobic viewpoints in Germany. A must read for anyone interested in German politics and political ideology, especially now that the AfD has become an undeniable force in East German politics and in the Bundestag.

[Miranda Patel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Might not be for others, but 100% my type of read.

Fascinating and horrifying look into the world of neo-Nazism, xenophobia, and hyper-nationalism. While the breadth is simply too wide to be able to cover every aspect in granular detail, Kushner did an admirable job of lending a voice victims' families and exposing the failings of the German secret intelligence in preventing and actually aiding and abetting these hate crimes.

[Conrad Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written expose of contemporary white supremacy in Germany.

As an American-German, albeit with limited lived experience in Germany, reading Look Away was riveting, illuminating, and painful— as someone who draws some identity from Germany and German culture, this book is well worth reading to better understand what continues to plague the nation.

[Jennifer Brody · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is a must-read. It provides a harrowing account of xenophobia in Germany, and questions the extent to which the nation has truly grappled with the country's Nazi history (spoiler alert: there is much more to be done). I appreciate that the author's storytelling centers the experience of the victims and their families. This book will break your heart, and summon you to action.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid, though some of the German history seemed like common knowledge. If you speak German, don’t listen to the audiobook as the narrator does not know how to say words like Thuringia, Rostock, or even U-Bahn. It distracted me, though it would likely be fine for people who don’t know German.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most horrifying part is the German police’s role in aiding and abetting far-right terrorism.

[Lola Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very disturbing. Very timely.

[Kayhell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rosalynn McCordBey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but redundant.

[Mackenzie Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend, especially if you living in the US or western Europe in 2025.

[Pablo B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacob Kushner’s Look Away is a powerful examination of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terrorist group that terrorized Germany for over a decade. Through meticulous research and a compelling narrative, Kushner reveals not only the heinous crimes committed by the NSU but also the complacency and complicity of the German authorities, who failed to recognize the threat within their own borders.

This book hit me on a deeply personal level. I spent a semester in Germany shortly after reunification and witnessed firsthand the rise of xenophobia in what was supposed to be a new, unified Germany. At the time, it was hard to believe that a country so intent on reckoning with its past could allow these ideologies to fester again. Yet, Look Away demonstrates how the seeds of hate were already being planted, especially in former East Germany, where discontent with reunification and disillusionment with the political system created fertile ground for extremist beliefs to grow.

What stands out in Kushner’s narrative is his refusal to let the reader distance themselves from what happened in Germany. He makes it abundantly clear that this is not just Germany’s problem. The rise of white nationalism and nativism is a transnational phenomenon, and the same factors that led to the NSU’s rise—fear, resentment, and disenchantment—are at play in many Western countries today, including the United States.

One of the most compelling aspects of the book is the way Kushner interweaves the stories of the three main NSU members—Beate Zschäpe, Uwe Mundlos, and Uwe Böhnhardt—showing how their lives converged to form this dangerous group. The irony of Beate’s likely Romanian heritage adds complexity to the narrative and highlights the contradictions inherent in such extremist movements. But even more alarming is the complicity of the German authorities. The fact that police initially blamed the NSU’s murders on immigrant crime syndicates is not only a gross miscarriage of justice but a reflection of deep-seated biases that hindered the investigation for years.

As Kushner details, the FBI, once involved, quickly identified a pattern of xenophobic violence—something the German police were either unable or unwilling to see. This contrast underscores the importance of unbiased, external perspectives in such cases and serves as a cautionary tale for how institutional prejudice can allow terror to thrive unchecked.

The book is also a timely reminder of the broader geopolitical issues at play. I recall a conversation with a German journalist friend in 2015, who sarcastically thanked the U.S. for causing the refugee crisis and then refusing to accept the displaced. Germany, in contrast, opened its doors to hundreds of thousands, despite the political and social backlash that followed. Kushner rightly points out that the consequences of such crises don’t stay confined within borders—extremist ideologies, like the NSU’s, are increasingly crossing national boundaries.

Ultimately, Look Away is a book that doesn’t let the reader off the hook. Kushner doesn’t wait for us to make connections between what happened in Germany and what’s happening in the U.S.; he lays it out plainly, forcing us to confront uncomfortable truths about the rise of far-right movements in our own backyard. For anyone interested in understanding the resurgence of white nationalism globally, this book is essential reading.

[Angé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly horrifying. I am a person of colour immigrant in Germany and this rocks me to my core. I like to think I’m an aware hare and don’t turn away from the political movement towards the right but this made it all feel so real and close to home. The system is so, so broken and the institutions that are meant to keep us safe are often the ones that hurt us. Such an important read.