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The anger video of the Dortmund hairdresser Bianka Bergler has already been seen more than 2.5 million times on Instagram.
“Every day I look at the account with fear.
No bridging aid has yet arrived, there is no emergency aid package, ”the entrepreneur said in the video.
The short-time working allowance applied for would also not arrive, so she could not pay any wages.
The video triggered a lot, even Chancellor Helge Braun reacted and promised faster payments.
Meanwhile, Bergler had an appointment at the job center.
That's what came out of it.
WORLD:
Your video hit the nerve.
You have become the face of lockdown frustration nationwide.
How was the echo?
Bianka Bergler:
Many dear people also let me be part of their story.
They confirm that they have not received any funds either.
They are just like me.
But I also get messages from people who reproach me that I have asked for donations or that it is my own fault that I cannot do business properly.
I reinvest a lot in my salon, in further training.
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WORLD:
Have you been able to clarify the matter with the job center and the Federal Employment Agency in the meantime?
Bergler:
Yes.
After my video went viral, the press officer at the local job center quickly reached out to me and offered me a short-term meeting.
I then canceled that for an interview and got an alternative appointment.
I would like to use the media attention to specifically point out the imbalance in my industry.
You know, it's not just me.
I have contact with people who want to take their own life because their existence has broken away.
They are totally desperate.
WORLD:
Did you intentionally cancel the appointment, despite your financial situation?
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Bergler:
No, a week later, of course, I met an employee from the job center.
I was told that I had received several requests to clarify the documents.
It turned out that the letters had been sent to an old address of mine, where I haven't lived for over half a year.
(Editor's note: WELT has a copy of Ms. Bergler's application from December at the job center for her own basic security with the new address.)
So that was the problem.
There was no business analysis, a so-called BWA.
I will now submit it later.
WORLD:
Why wasn't you contacted or called by email?
Bergler:
I also asked myself.
All that was said was that this was not possible for reasons of data protection law.
I am allowed to send an email, but employees are not allowed to access this data without authorization.
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WORLD:
And why did you wait six weeks with your call?
Bergler:
I'm not the only one who has submitted an application, so I accepted a certain amount of time to process my application.
WORLD:
How are you doing now?
Bergler:
There are two donation
accounts
from the first lockdown - one of them was created by my ex-girlfriend, the second was an attempt by me on my mobile phone.
A lot of donations have been received on the Gofoundme account from March last year.
Some who saw my video found this account and donated again there.
With this I could now pay my employees' wages.
There are singles among them and people without a family background who should be able to pay their rent.
Without these donations I would not have known how to proceed.
Because the application for reimbursement of short-time allowance at the Federal Employment Agency will take three or four weeks.
In December it was still possible because I had the income from the month before, but now I no longer have it.
And that is the message: Our industry is not receiving sufficient support from the state.
WORLD:
How much is the situation affecting you psychologically?
Bergler:
I'm all alone, have no father, no mother I could ask for advice, actually just my partner.
I can no longer sleep at night.
The store is all I have.
I don't even know how to proceed.
There is hardly a day that I do not burst into tears.
WORLD:
A real shit storm is raging against you on the internet.
The allegation is, among other things, that you accepted donations even though you were receiving the state basic pension at the same time.
And would still moan.
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Bergler:
I'm bombarded with hate mail like this.
I can explain this to myself, among other things, by the changes in my private life, and I have guesses as to who is going through everything.
Some who want to expose me on Facebook are friends with former employees of mine.
The agitation got so bad that I have already enforced injunctions because it was damaging to business.
I do not want to say more.
WORLD:
Did you really receive these donations?
Bergler:
Yes, through the aforementioned accounts.
At that time we had stated the target of 5000 euros.
The Marco Reus Foundation became aware of the appeal at Gofundme with its appeal “Help your Hometown”.
A few hundred euros had already been donated when the foundation rounded the amount up, for which I am very grateful.
Without the money I would not have been able to implement the hygiene concept.
(CoR: Donations that were used for the company are not counted towards the basic security, according to the job center.)
WORLD:
A report by a local radio station claims that your store was already doing badly before the crisis.
Bergler:
I am very interested in which envious person makes such claims, but okay.
The store went very well.
He turned over between 19,000 and 20,000 euros per month, and at the time I had seven employees.
This year my baby will be ten years old - so much for the fact that the store wasn't running.
After the first lockdown, however, I had to fire an employee, a barber who specialized in men and their beards.
And then an employee quit for private reasons.
From September, however, another trainee will be working for me.
WORLD:
Do you regret making the video?
Bergler:
I am proud that our branch has been heard by politicians, glad that something has been set in motion.
If the shitstorm is the price I have to pay for it or because some people still have a personal account with me, then that's okay.
Quiet, that just pushes me on.
Paulo Coelho said on the Way of St. James: "I fight the good fight."
When asked, the Dortmund job center confirmed that the case had meanwhile been clarified with Ms. Bergler and that processing was ongoing. When asked, the local radio station did not want to comment on the content of the allegations described. After the video was published, a third donation account was set up for Bianka Bergler, but according to you, not on her own initiative.