Exhibition Willy Brandt House: Fragments of War

Jana Redweik

picture editor

• Follow I follow

In their pictures, they capture fragments of the unbelievable attack: they show the individual fates of those affected and provide insights into their current living environment.

Her focus is on showing the very personal experiences and individual fates of those portrayed, as well as snapshots of the last few weeks and months - exemplary for so many tragic stories of suffering and facets of this war.

“Of course, we can only describe how the people in Ukraine deal with the war from our personal experiences.

In March in particular, we met an incredible number of people who wanted to support their country and got involved in some way.

For example, people of all ages knotted camouflage nets in a library in Lviv.

Donations were collected and food was cooked to feed the refugees at the train station or other stations along their journey.

During our second visit in June, after the initial state of shock, at least in the west of the country and in Kyiv, everyday life returned for some.

However, we have often heard that they have a guilty conscience, for example going out to a party while friends or relatives are fighting for them at the front.

The war is always present for the people, but at the same time it is impossible for them to remain permanently in a state of emergency.”

– Laila Sieber and Helena Manhartsberger

Ilona with her dog Leo.

The architect from Lviv takes part in a territorial defense training course organized and led by foreign ex-soldiers.

"It was immediately clear to me that I wanted to prepare myself in case the war also came to the west of the country.

We train here in a forest near the Polish border.

It's all about how we defend ourselves.

And I would be ready for that anytime.”

Over 200 volunteers have already completed the training.

In a six-day crash course over three weekends, volunteer trainers teach them what they need to be able to defend themselves or survive in a house-to-house fight.

The training takes place in cooperation with the Ukrainian security forces.

The program is run by ex-soldiers from Poland,

Marija sent a picture of her destroyed apartment to a neighbor from Kharkiv.

Now she is housed in an emergency shelter for LGBTIQ+ people.

A Ukrainian flag hangs above a door in the hallway of youth organization

in Ivano-Frankivsk.

In the event of an air alarm, this is the safest place in the house.

But now the sirens are being ignored by most employees.

is a non-governmental youth organization that works to develop a creative civil society in Ukraine and supports projects of cultural, educational, social and human rights initiatives.

An armed civilian with a woman's suitcase in Irpin.

A man stands on a platform and says goodbye to his wife who is sitting in the train.

The surgeon Mikhailo Lyashchenko fled Kyiv and now works in a converted beauty clinic, where he is also housed.

They treat war wounded.

He says: “A few weeks ago I brought my wife and children to the Polish border.

I can't forget the picture of my wife fully packed, one backpack on her back, a second one on her stomach, our baby Nika in the pram and holding the hand of 2-year-old Adriana, with her grandmother on crutches next to her, walking towards the border.

I miss them all very much, our little one is only two months old.

Now I work in a beauty clinic in Ivano-Frankivsk, which we have converted so that we can treat war wounded.

My father and my little brother are also here, they work as an accountant and as a nurse.

I never thought a war could break out.

I don't know if I would fight too.

My weapon is my scalpel.

When the war is over, I'll get my wife and children and go back to Kyiv."