war story
Goslar, Germany - Nov 5, 2024
Goslar Region helps Ukraine
Goslar Region helps Ukraine
By Günter Koschig
Goslar, Germany, Nov 5, 2024
ai - Ambulances, donations and Super Mario. Helping refugees in the district of Goslar and in their home country.
aiUkrainian helpers need help and recognition. That's why we have supported and honored them with donations for their compatriots!
aiAs a volunteer for the White Ring* which has been helping victims of crime for 40 years, I understand what victims go through.
aiIt was a matter of course for me to also help refugees from the war in Ukraine. Since the outbreak, I have looked at the Ukrainian flag every day — the flag which my neighbors raised with me to welcome a teenager just arrived from Ukraine as we played the Ukrainian national anthem. And while the young 14-year-old received boxing gloves and autographed photos of the famous Klitschkos for her new room, we greeted the first children from Kyiv with teddy bears to give them a little bit of warmth and comfort. I gave another teenager my mountain bike so he could be mobile in his new place.
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aiLike me, hundreds of thousands of people in Germany, Poland, the USA and many other countries have done the same — taking in war refugees in need and helping them, also helping their families in their bombed-out homeland.
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aiLike me, hundreds of thousands of people in Germany, Poland, the USA and many other countries have done the same — taking in war refugees in need and helping them, also helping their families in their bombed-out homeland.
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aiAmbulances and relief supplies for Ukraine...
aiAmbulances and relief supplies for Ukraine...
aiA fundraising campaign by the Goslar newspaper, with editor-in-chief Joerg Kleine, raised a magnificent 360,000 euros for the attacked country.
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aiAs a jury member of the Goslar Citizens' Prize, I myself was able to witness how Hans-Joachim Tessner doubled the 2023 award from the Tessner Foundation from 10,000 to 20,000 euros, which benefited Ukraine Aid in Goslar. A pre-owned ambulance was purchased, now used to rescue many people in Ukraine.
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aiAt the award ceremony, Goslar's Lord Mayor Urte Schwerdtner, also a member of the foundation's jury, praised not only the donor, but also the great commitment of the Chmiel family, Volkert Bruns, Ralf Clavay and the Lions Club.
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aiAs a jury member of the Goslar Citizens' Prize, I myself was able to witness how Hans-Joachim Tessner doubled the 2023 award from the Tessner Foundation from 10,000 to 20,000 euros, which benefited Ukraine Aid in Goslar. A pre-owned ambulance was purchased, now used to rescue many people in Ukraine.
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aiAt the award ceremony, Goslar's Lord Mayor Urte Schwerdtner, also a member of the foundation's jury, praised not only the donor, but also the great commitment of the Chmiel family, Volkert Bruns, Ralf Clavay and the Lions Club.
aiThe chairwoman of Goslar Ukrainehilfe, Dr. Christine Rose and her team, are very committed to looking after the refugees who are living with us. Sponsors have made it possible to set up a donation center in Goslar, which provides for the refugees in and around the town and their relatives back in Ukraine.
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aiKlitschko's toughest fight...
aiKlitschko's toughest fight...
aiAs a former boxing fan, I know Dr. Volodymyr and Dr. Vitalii Klitschko, not only from TV but also personally. They invited me and my students as representatives of the White Ring to their boxing matches under the slogan: “Klitschkos against violence”. Their support for this initiative and their spectacular fights have always been a source of admiration for me.
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aiNow in their most difficult struggle — Vitaliy, the mayor of Kyiv, and Volodymyr, a freedom fighter — I was able to repay them: together with former police friends, we provided local refugees with furniture, apartments, pet food and clothing among other things, and sent relief supplies to the war region.
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aiNow in their most difficult struggle — Vitaliy, the mayor of Kyiv, and Volodymyr, a freedom fighter — I was able to repay them: together with former police friends, we provided local refugees with furniture, apartments, pet food and clothing among other things, and sent relief supplies to the war region.
aiDuring the donation handovers, we got to know Anastasiia Bilous and Tetiana Larina from Kyiv, now living in Germany. In addition to organizing photo exhibitions with war pictures from their home country, they volunteered at the Goslar distribution center to prepare relief supplies for transport to Ukraine.
All of us hope that the terrible war in Ukraine will end soon and that we will be able to visit our new friends when they return to their beloved homeland!
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aiAward with trophy for civil courage...
aiAward with trophy for civil courage...
aiYaroslav Futerko, a member of the regional council in Ternopil, caught our attention because he regularly drove our relief supplies from Goslar to the war region — of course without an armored car or personal protection. This also commanded great respect from the jury of the Goslar Civil Courage Campaign, which includes the Goslar police chief, Rodger Kerst. For this reason, jury member Martin Schilff and I publicly awarded Yaroslav Futerko, and volunteers Tetiana and Anastasiia mentioned above, with a trophy and certificates for their practiced civil courage.
aiWe held the photo exhibition and a discussion event at the Goslar police station with Yaroslav and a policewoman from Kyiv. It became very clear to everyone how difficult police work is there in Ukraine in times of war.
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aiHead of hotel as quartermaster for refugees ...
aiHead of hotel as quartermaster for refugees ...
aiThe list of donors is very long, so I would just like to mention my friend Thomas Wietig from Langelsheim as a representative. The innkeeper closed his hotel after the outbreak of the war to accommodate and feed refugees free of charge. They also used his large hall to receive and distribute clothing donations. When his hotel business started up again, staff from Ukraine were of course also present.
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aiSuper Mario inspires children from the war zone...
aiSuper Mario inspires children from the war zone...
aiTo make the many refugee children in Goslar happy, I dressed up as Super Mario and accompanied them to the Super Mario Bros. movie at the Cineplex cinema in Goslar. The cinema owner, my friend Floria Wildmann, once again gave us free tickets. So that not only German children learn civil courage, I had the “Lotta Civil Courage” film translated into Ukrainian by Anja Vierschke and her granddaughter Masha Zakharchuk. The movie, animated by theater director Marco Assmann with his daughter Lotta, continues to inspire children of all nations.
aiI was surprised at how grateful the Ukrainian orphans were that Goslar sponsors brought them from Ukraine to Lower Saxony for a week away from the war. I made them happy when I brought them to the bowling center and before to the Rammelsberg Mining Museum in a Super Mario outfit — with a photo shoot, T-shirts, and small gifts. The children, without their fathers who had died in the war, thanked me so touchingly that I had to fight back tears.
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aiIntegration is important...
aiIntegration is important...
aiRegular conversations with Tetiana and Anastasiia and their compatriots about the current war situation takes place not only at information stands on the Ukrainian anniversary of the outbreak of war, but also at my badminton club, at stand-up paddling, at parties organized by my friend Martin Schilff from the police union. This has not only increased understanding for their difficult situation of living without their husbands for almost three years with their children in Germany, but has generated new donations too.
aiAll of us hope that the terrible war in Ukraine will end soon and that we will be able to visit our new friends when they return to their beloved homeland!
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Super Mario welcomes Yaroslav and his group of half-orphan children in Goslar with small gifts.
Ukrainian boys are happy about the photo shoot with Super Mario
Super Mario presents gifts at the bowling tournament in Goslar
A week without war, something Ukrainian kids in Germany really appreciated..here friends in the bowling center.
Dr. Christiane Rose, Günter Koschig and Martin Schilff honour Yaroslav Futerko with the Goslar Civil Courage Award in front of 200 Ukrainian and German guests.
Anastasiia Bilous and Tetiana Larina show in their photo exhibitions in Goslar destroyed cities in Ukraine and collect donations.
The world champions Dr. Volodymyr and Dr. Vitalii Klitschko were honored by Martin Schilff and Günter Koschig for their prevention work with schoolchildren on the sidelines of their boxing matches in Germany.
Yaroslav is delighted to receive gifts from Super Mario for children in Ukraine.
Super Mario welcomes Yaroslav and his group of half-orphan children in Goslar with small gifts.
Ukrainian boys are happy about the photo shoot with Super Mario
Super Mario presents gifts at the bowling tournament in Goslar
