The trial in Munich of an alleged neo-Nazi woman accused as an accomplice in a string of murders of mostly ethnic Turks is, as The Associated Press writes, "forcing Germans to confront painful truths about racism and the broader treatment of immigrants in society."
Last month, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported on the impending trial of Beate Zschaepe, 38, set to begin Monday after being delayed last month. Zschaepe is charged with complicity in the murders of eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.
Zschaepe is the sole survivor of the group blamed for the killings — the self-styled National Socialist Underground. Four men alleged to have helped the killers in various ways will also be tried, according to The AP. She is also accused of involvement in at least two bombings and 15 bank robberies carried out by her accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt, who died in an apparent murder-suicide two years ago, the news agency says.
As Soraya reported at the time:
"For years, German authorities failed to see a link between the crimes, even though the same gun was used in all of the shootings. They also rejected any link to right-wing extremism.
German authorities instead blamed the victims, falsely accusing the non-German ones of ties to criminal and drug gangs. Police searched at least one home of a victim's family with drug-sniffing dogs."