The case of Lisa shows: Russian-Germans often do not trust German media and authorities. An expert on the Russian-German community explains why
After a report on Russian television about the alleged rape of 13-year-old Lisa from Berlin-Marzahn by refugees, many Russian Germans and Russians took to the streets in Germany. The police and the public prosecutor's office had stated that from their point of view Lisa was neither kidnapped nor raped on that questionable night. But many demonstrators believed neither the German authorities nor the local media. Their anger was directed sweepingly at supposedly violent refugees. Edgar Born, Resettlement Officer and Director of Studies at the Villigst Protestant Academy in Schwerte, observes with concern the political attitudes of some Russian Germans. As a pastor, he has been to the Soviet Union and its successor republics several times and likes to refer to the Russian-German parishioners as "my people.
Please don't judge too quickly: Not every Russian-German is a Putin fan.