“Angry emails from real Germans – and what I reply to them”
Anyone who has ever received hate mail, wild and undifferentiated insults or even anonymous death threats via email or chat has probably asked themselves whether other people feel the same way and how they deal with it.
How do you handle the content? Do you delete them? Do you answer? Do you get involved in discussions? I've asked myself that again and again. There are a lot of emails lying dormant in my mailbox that keep hissing at me when I look at them. At one point I should hang on a tree, slashed and my family should be sold to Poland, at another point I should please disclose my income from the pharmaceutical companies or my colleague Ralf should even admit that he is a Turk.
It's always so absurd, so grotesque. And you keep asking yourself the same question: How should you answer that?
Learn from the professionals
I was all the more pleased when the author and journalist Hasnain Kazim announced that he would publish the dialogue history of the hate mail he received in book form. See how someone else does it.
About Kazim: Hasnain Kazim is a correspondent for SPIEGEL ONLINE and DER SPIEGEL, a German with Pakistani origins. He lives in Vienna.
That's exactly what we have in common (Germans, living in Vienna) and that's how we met a good 19 months ago at the celebrations for German Unity Day, at a reception given by the German ambassador in Vienna.
Many other people will probably remember Kazim through his recorder video message, which he published in response to a hate mail.
Post from Karlheinz
This book is finally published. Under the title “Post from Karlheinz. Angry emails from real Germans - and what I answer them” contains Kazim's answers to a large number of hate and threatening emails written creatively in orthography on a good 270 pages. By the way, the namesake Karlheinz is one of these angry hate mail authors.
A lot of the content seemed familiar to me. Authors who send their punctuation marks in packs, clumsy insults, nonsensical insinuations and above all: unhealthy half-knowledge or ignorance, which, coupled with healthy self-confidence and ignorance, is packaged in mostly short and undifferentiated emails.
Admittedly, I only have a smaller repertoire of fan emails, but I was still very happy to see how Kazim deals with the emails and, which is just as interesting, how the senders react to them. That's exactly what often impressed me about the correspondence: the tone of the emails, which were initially dripping with hatred, changed in many cases. People didn't expect that the initially distant aggression suddenly turned into a personal conversation.
But that is not the norm and I confess that it was another group of correspondence that particularly amused me when I read it: it was Kazim's snarky, slightly provocative and, above all, ironic answers. It was always particularly amusing when the authors of the hate mails were sometimes exaggerated and then made fun of with small taunts.
I was particularly impressed by the signature “Nuclear Power,” which Kazim used in a rather humorous (from his side) correspondence. I think I'll just keep that in mind for special situations.
Hatred, racism, resentment
However, you quickly notice that the hate mail that Kazim has received in recent years and that he presents in the book mostly has the same reason. It is always prejudiced racism or fanatical extremism that is the reason for hate mail or death threats. Often there is partial knowledge or ignorance. I can confirm all of this from my own work and also the emails I have received.
However, what the book showed me at this point: Yes, you can't and shouldn't always put up with everything. You can and may actually respond as clearly as Kazim does, provided the previous email/message has already set the level.
Can and may this correspondence be published? I have often argued in the past and for a long time assumed that one should not act like that. However, I have thrown this noble and excessive attitude overboard for some time now and, in extreme cases, have shown comments, hate mail or messages to my circle of friends on Facebook.
What protection should people enjoy who send death threats or defamation from an anonymous situation?
In this respect, I think it's okay if Kazim puts the many scriptures into book form. Even more: he strengthens all those who also suffer from the burden of hate and shows a way to deal with it. I also understand when he describes that the situations required a lot of effort from him. Of course it is.
When you are repeatedly confronted with anger, hatred and threatened violence, it takes energy. I admire this demonstrated strength because I often didn't dare to answer in such a provocative way. But apparently I should try it out.
Due to the typical style of email and chat processes, the book is entertaining and also pleasantly easy to read. Of course you won't be overwhelmed, that should be clear, but this is also due to the starting point of the often really stupid hate mails, from which Kazim often creates amusing, sometimes memorable short episodes with his answers.
Thematically, these short episodes always stick to the topics of racism, right-wing populism and fanaticism, but this is due to the nature of the emails themselves. Hate mail, death threats and undifferentiated insults are in this spectrum, unfortunately I have to confirm this from my own experience.
Affected or not affected?
It is rare (if ever) that a well-founded and well-designed email ends with a death threat or a request to please leave the country.
Anyone who is familiar with social media and the hate dynamics of the internet will probably be amused by the way the correspondence has been processed. In my case, I learned that it's okay to approach the supposed critics more harshly.
Anyone who is not familiar with this “culture of hate” and extremism on the Internet may be shocked by some of the statements. Yes, there is this hatred. There are inhumane letters. And there is, as Kazim shows, a way to deal with it. In the end, as a victim of hate, you don't have to feel like a victim at all.
Hasnain Kazim:
“Post from Karlheinz. Angry emails from real Germans – and what I reply to them”Penguin Verlag 2018, paperback, 272 pages, 10 euros
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

