Ich schreibe mein Leben Kriegsfolgen im Frieden. Frauen der Wende erzählen Familiengeschichten.

We want to hear, tell, appreciate and value women’s stories. That was the main concern when the Intercultural Women’s Network (Interkulturellen Frauen Netzwerk) at the University of Dresden was founded. And it has been that way ever since. This is the space of exchange and creativity where the authors of this book met…

At first topics such as the Peaceful Revolution of 89/90, stories from the GDR that we had witnessed as much more colorful and multi-facetted time than generally seemed to be reported, where discussed and then more and more conversations surfaced that seemed to circle a central topic, that of a time that we had not even lived through ourselves yet seemed to be impacted by: the time of the Nazis and that of the Second World War. We were asking ourselves: What had our grandmothers and grandfathers, our mothers and fathers experienced or even what had they done, how have these often buried and silenced experiences shaped their lives, ideas and method of child rearing, and which fears and conditioning have they consciously or unconsciously passed onto us, the war children generation or war grandchildren generation?

In very diverse texts six women present their own review of a century of (East)German history. They are fascinating historical documents and stories of healing. Healing wounds that preceding generations inflicted or wounds that were inflicted upon them and that still ache. “We tune into each other’s existence”, says the North American theologian Nelle Morton. Transferring the idea to this book: We are reading a new, deeper sense of understanding into our lives.

Riedel-Pfäfflin, Ursula, Andrea Siegert und Heidrun Novy (Hrsg.): Ich schreibe mein Leben. Kriegsfolgen im Frieden. Frauen der Wende erzählen Familiengeschichten.
ISBN: 978-3-937772-28-8, 300 pages, 19,90 EUR

“I was born in 1964, the Second World War had ended 19 years ago. When I was ten we were 29 years post end of the war, three times as much as the life of a ten-year-old – an eternity. To me, so I thought, the war meant nothing. We were living in the future. The past was way back. The baddies, the German fascists, had all – so we were told – escaped to West Germany and were high-ranking officials over there. We were the good ones. We had built a country, this is what we were told, in which exploitation did not exist, there were no rich people and poor people, no private property. In school we were taught that as Germans we were responsible for monstrous crimes towards other peoples. German soil will never sprout war again. That is what we stood for. My parents’ generation built up Socialism and my generation was to construct Communism. That was our first order. 1964, my year group, had the highest rate of child birth in both East- and West Germany in post-war history. We were 33 children in my class. My name as one of the most popular for girls born in 1964 – next to Kathrin, Annette and Sabine. The most popular boy names were Thomas, Steffen, Michael and Frank. We were many and the future belonged to us…”

Vom Roden des Urwalds bis zur Flächenstilllegung. Einblicke in tausend Jahre Leben und Geschichte westfälischer Bauern am Beispiel des Hofes Schmiemann/Eggert in Münster-Mecklenbeck.

Alfons Eggert can chronicle the history of his farm further back than one thousand years by the means of documents, archaeological finds and family deliverance. The estate has been at its current location for almost a thousand years, hundreds of people have worked here, lived off it, bled for it. These tithing peasant farmers were, for the most part of their existence, bound to the Münster Cathedral Chapter and played little to no role in any history book. They, however, were the ones supporting the powerful and wealthy, that were filling the pages of our history books, by rendering duties and services to their lords, who in return would hold them responsible if they were pillaged, burnt and forced into military service.

From the pioneering settlement in the deserted forests around Münster of 950 to the local recreation area on the outskirts of the city – quality life surrounded by nature, farm café and organic store – the thousand-year history of “Schmiemann/Eggert” in Münster/Mecklenbeck is told in representation for all the peasant farmers of this time and region.

Eggert, Alfons und Ruth Damwerth: Vom Roden des Urwalds bis zur Flächenstilllegung. Einblicke in tausend Jahre Leben und Geschichte westfälischer Bauern am Beispiel des Hofes Schmiemann/Eggert in Münster-Mecklenbeck.
ISBN: 978-3-937772-29-5, large-size hardcover, 212 pages, full-color print, 262 images, 24,90 EUR

In 1888 the unwed heiress to a family estate, with over 900 years of family history, handed the farm over to their long-standing caretaker Bernhard Eggert and with it many relating records and documents. A stroke of luck for his grandson Alfons, born in 1928, who is now collating a book about the history of the farm. A stroke of luck also for his co-author the historian and German studies specialist Ruth Damwerth, whose primary area of expertise lies in creating biographical work: “1000 years of estate history – the historical scale of this seemed too large at first. I spent weeks ‘digging’ through the state archives and was amazed to realize that the fate of this individual farm was representative for all the peasant farmers of this region, the rural existence – their history – wrapped up”, she says.

Münstersche Zeitung, 12.03.2014, on the book “Vom Roden des Urwalds bis zur Flächenstilllegung. Einblick in 1000 Jahre Leben und Geschichte westfälischer Bauern am Beispiel des Hofes Schmiemann/Eggert“

Ich bin nicht verrückt. Ich bin ein Mädchen!

The child loves to dress up and play with other girls in the street and create pieces of coiffed art during boring classes. It dreams of enrolling at a school for housekeeping after finishing elementary school. At its brother’s restaurant it already enjoys hours of quality time with the cleaning and service ladies, the whispering, the chats about female topics. None of this surprising for a girl born in the conservative Eastern Dutch province at the end of the nineteen fifties. There is just one problem. The child’s name is Hans and it is, strictly biologically speaking, a boy…
After years of internal conflict that see him suicidal, finally at the age of fifty plus Hans is reborn as Hanne. In her autobiography Hanne would like to share hope and encouragement. She also hopes to educate people who are not directly affected about what transsexuality or Gender Dysphoria, as it is medically termed, is – most of all she wants to break the silence that she has built up around herself and been living in for decades due to a false sense of shame.

Wagenvoord, Hanne: Ich bin nicht verrückt. Ich bin ein Mädchen!
ISBN: 978-3-937772-33-2, paperback, 204 pages, 14,90 Euro

“Step by step I ran towards the red light, blinking as the train was rapidly approaching. Closer and closer. All of a sudden a deafening whistle cut through the silence. Split seconds before I wanted to take the leap, the leap into my freedom, my salvation. Screeching drilled into my brain, broke right into me simultaneously with a flashing, bright light. It was as though someone was yelling at me to stop this nonsense. Out of reflex I stepped back and lost my footing, fell backwards over a protruding stone. In the wake of the passing train I fell to the ground. I was shocked. I felt tears welling up and was shaking heavily through my whole body. Motionless I lay there and stared at the blue sky. The tears had blurred my vision but I could make out a few birds flying overhead.”

Sashtipoorthi: Bikulturelle Betrachtungen eines stolzen Deutschen

The Sanskrit expression Sashtipoorthi translates to: completion of the sixtieth year of life. This is connected to much more than a point of time in your life or a party. This expression encompasses an entire philosophy:
A person at the age of sixty has fulfilled their duties in life. They may and must release the corset of responsibility and should freely focus on their own personal development. Hence, Hindus often celebrate this milestone with a ceremony similar to that of a birth.
This philosophy is appealing to me, not only because I am turning sixty soon… I know the corsets, the societal, professional and economic ones from my own experiences of two cultures. As a doctor I also increasingly see this type of imprisonments in corsets of any kind as the origin of all kinds of illness. I would like to speak from my own biography and experience as a doctor: Be brave, dare to go against the imposition and limitations of the corset – confidence and courage. Preserve your integrity and the respect of and for your fellow human beings.

Simon, Julian: Sashtipoorthi: Bikulturelle Betrachtungen eines stolzen Deutschen
ISBN: 978-3-937772-34-9, paperback, 158 pages, 13,00 EUR

“On February 18th 1980 I arrived at Frankfurt Airport. It was could and cloudy. The first thing I lost was my name.
Julian Simon Pendanathu House is what my passport read. The border control officers assumed Pendanathu House, my surname, was a part of my address and Simon my surname. This was documented officially and I was too tired from the trip to protest and too confused by the long flight and I also spoke no German. (…) My brother Joseph had made his way from Lüdenscheid to Frankfurt to pick me up. It was cold and misty and I was completely tired out and stared in amazement through the fog of my exhaustion into the grey haze of the surroundings passing by the car windows. I could not comprehend what I was seeing. I had always heard that Germany was a rich country. So where were the rubber trees and coconut palms - the plants that guaranteed an income in Kerala? From the Autobahn I could only see forest, an occasional building. Where was the wealth?”

Ursula

Ursula Landeck is a person without roots. Historical developments have severly contributed: War, bombs, first evacuations, later escaping over the zonal border. In the first instance it was her parents that lived apart, quarreling, fighting on the back of their eldest daughter, misusing her as a spy or as leverage refusing her any memory of comfort, support and security.

Ruth Damwerth: Ursula.
ISBN: 3-937772-02-2; paperback 138 pages, 14,90 Euro