The Facebook group “Delmenhorst our city” has not been online since Wednesday. For some time now, the thematic focus of the group has no longer been on content from the city of Delmenhorst, but rather on events in the Gaza war or actions by Turkey – including regular anti-Semitic agitation.
Many Delmenhorst residents have probably already had experiences with this controversial Facebook group. A number of Delmenhorst residents have already been removed from the group, which recently had around 19,000 members, although only a few of them were actually active, because the administrator sometimes had difficulty dealing with the opinions of those who thought differently. Members with critical opinions and a variation of their profile name or a picture that did not show themselves were often removed under the pretext of a “fake account”.
Admin under criticism
The group’s administrator, Yücel Y. from Delmenhorst, has already had to face massive criticism himself. For example, he filmed an employee of the Delmenhorst adult education center against his will during renovation work on the new social café on Nordwolle. The background to this was a disagreement about the ownership of the café that had previously been run by the group administrator’s wife. The footage, which violated the right to one’s own image, was later found in the Facebook group, where mockery and hatred was poured out against the adult education center. At the instigation of the adult education center, Y. and the adult education center met in court. Y. was fined for other offenses.
Anti-Semitic statements – Israelis called pigs
The admin’s regular anti-Semitic statements are also remembered. While years ago Y. compared the Reichsprogromnacht with the occasional criticism of the 2022 World Cup host Qatar, the tone became massively harsher after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2024 and the resulting brutal war. The admin regularly referred to Israelis as pigs and child murderers using the corresponding emoji.
Pictures of children’s corpses
Recently, the admin has been sharing anti-Israel posts, some of them videos, several times a day in the group – which, mind you, is called “Delmenhorst Our City.” These often included posts showing gruesome images of Palestinian children’s corpses from the war in the Gaza Strip.
A similarly shown sympathy for the Turkish President Erdogan is of course his right, but also caused astonishment among many Delmenhorst residents.
Screenshot: Posting in the group from July 30, 2024
Police not responsible for shutdown
The Delmenhorst police had also long been aware of the group. According to Delmenhorst information, at least one member of the group had already reported the admin for incitement.
One thing is certain: there does not appear to be any investigative background for the group’s shutdown. When asked, Matthias Wittfer, press spokesman for the Delmenhorst police, said that the police had indeed heard about the group’s disappearance. But the police had nothing to do with it. “It wasn’t us,” says Matthias Wittfer.
The admin himself has not yet responded to DelmeNews’s inquiry on the subject. It is not possible to clarify in the near future whether Facebook itself closed the group. The Facebook group Meta does not usually respond to inquiries at short notice.
Screenshot at the top: The Facebook group “Delmenhorst Our City .” is no longer accessible since Wednesday.
