Anniversary event 50 years BOG
50 years of the Bayerische Ostgesellschaft
An occasion to reflect and take stock in a festive setting.
On 13 November 2023, more than one hundred guests gathered in the Isar Hall of Munich's Hofbräukeller, including a pleasing number of companions who had experienced the predecessor, the "Society for the Promotion of Relations between the FRG and the USSR" (1973-1993), and some of whom are now active in the friendly partner association "OstWestWirtschaftsForum Bayern" (OWWF).
After the welcome address by BOG Chairwoman Iris Trübwetter, OWWF President Eberhard Sinner addressed the guests.
Peter Franke, Chairman of the Federal Association of German East-West Societies, emphasised the continuous involvement of the BOG at supra-regional level, first through the former Chairman Dr Erich Fellmann and later through the current Chairman Iris Trübswetter.
Eleonore von Rotenhan, a member almost from the beginning, reported that as a representative of the Protestant church, she represented the civil society element alongside the many representatives from business and politics, which was a major concern of the association's founder Erwin Essl.
OWWF Vice-President Hermann Pönisch, already a member of the Board of Directors and Deputy Chairman of the Friendship Society until 1992, reported with justifiable pride on the Society's contribution to the establishment of the Kyiv - Munich city partnership. On the occasion of a trip organised by him entitled "Bavaria as a guest in the Ukraine" in May 1989, the establishment of the partnership was agreed over a radio bridge, which was then completed in July of the same year. The Nuremberg - Kharkiv and Regensburg - Odessa partnerships followed just one year later.
The first mayor of the municipality of Taufkirchen, Ullrich Hermann, provided the bridge to the present. He stands for the solidarity partnership between Taufkirchen and the municipality of Peretschyn in Transcarpathia, which was mediated by Michael Schanz and was born out of the hardship of war and with which the BOG has had a special relationship for almost 30 years.
The thematic focus of the evening was the presentation by Dr Anke Giesen from "Memorial", which was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. She provided information on the "Opposition in the Russian Federation" and impressively demonstrated how the initially very diverse opposition movements were increasingly restricted during Putin's presidency, until the repression took on extreme forms with the start of the war on 24 February 2022 and opposition voices were intimidated, imprisoned or driven into exile.
After a meal together, the guests who had travelled from Ukraine had the opportunity to introduce themselves. Olga Barsak, education and social counsellor of the community of Peretschyn, showed the very broad spectrum of cooperation with our association, illustrated by rich visual material. While the focus of our help in her municipality is on supporting needy children and, since the beginning of the war, supporting internally displaced persons, Mayor Maria Koval Masiuta (Onokivska) showed the contribution our organisation has been able to make to infrastructure projects in her municipality.
Another area of our work was presented by Dr Hanns-Werner and Karla Hey. Both brought their initiative for medical and social support in Kyrgyzstan to the association in 2006, which culminated in 2020 with the purchase of their own house for the women's protection project "NUR". Finally, Dr Jörg Lohse drew attention to the burning issue of medical aid for the Ukrainian civilian population. The mobile clinic project initiated by him and Dr Hey in the formerly Russian-occupied district of Vyshorod (north of Kyiv) is just getting underway and is urgently needed in a country whose social infrastructure has been ruined by all the destruction. The evening ended with this view of the burning current problems in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, which showed that determined action by people who are not indifferent to the plight of others gives hope.
A 40-page brochure on the history of the organisation and the current status of its projects was published with the title "50 years for international understanding and peace".
Interview with Dr Anke Giesen in the Munich newspaper TZ München (conducted by Klaus Rimpel, Head of the Political Editorial Department of the Munich newspaper tz)
