May 8th is the date of the capitulation of the German Wehrmacht and the official end of World War Two in Europe. The largest conflict in human history devastated many cities and caused
unimaginable human suffering and pain.

The UN General Assembly designated the days from May 8th to 9th as the International Days of Remembrance and Reconciliation for the Victims of World War II.

Additionally, these days are known as the Victory in Europe Days.

In Austria, May 8th has been a recognized day of remembrance against violence and racism since 1997.

https://www.festderfreude.at/en/the-festival/the-8-may ... See more

At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate a great festival. It is the religious peak ending the month of Ramadan and asking God for the recognition of prayers and efforts and for forgiveness for mistakes.

Since the “Feast of Breaking the Fast” depends on the moon phases, the Celebration varies from year to year. The Feast - also called Eid al-Fitr - lasts two to three days (depending on the country and region) and is considered a day off from school and work in many countries.

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/eid-al-fitr ... See more

On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear accident in the history of nuclear energy occurred. Due to an operating error, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant went out of control, exploded, and released radioactive materials into the air.

According to WHO, thousands of lives were lost due to this accident. The catastrophe’s effects can still be felt today - for example, Austria's soils still show elevated levels of cesium-137 (colloquially known as radio cesium) in certain areas. ... See more

Earth Day, which was launched in 1969 at a UNESCO conference in San Francisco, has been celebrated for over 50 years with events in more than 175 countries. The day is dedicated to environmental protection and intends to encourage people to rethink their consumption behavior in terms of ecological aspects and sustainability.

Further Information: https://www.earthday.org ... See more

On April 19, the Tyrolean foreign service candidates were guests at the Jewish Community in Innsbruck. There they attended the lecture "From Libya to Innsbruck. Jewish displaced persons from Tripoli and Bengasi in the Bengasi labor education camp".
Afterwards books like "Endzeit: Krieg und Alltag in Tirol 1945" were presented.
At the end there was a photo with the president of the Kultusgemeinde Günter Lieder.
Everyone is cordially invited to the next meeting. ... See more

At Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Due to denominations, rites and celebration dates differ. For example, Orthodox Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after Passover whereas others celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox.

Since dates vary, Easter is often referred to as “the movable holiday”. The predecessor of Easter is the Jewish Passover, which is why the service on Easter Eve commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

Further Information: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter ... See more

Pessach or Passover - one of the most important Jewish holidays - commemorates the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, their liberation from Egyptian slavery and their special bond with God. This High Holiday lasts seven days and begins on the eve of April 15 with a service in the synagogue, followed by the Seder evening. Traditionally, unleavened food such as mazza (= thin bread made of flour and water) is served.

Furter Information: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/passover ... See more

Today is the day of Judaism

The word Transición describes the process of turning Spain from a dictatorship to a democracy in the 70ties and early 80ties. Between 1975 and 1980 new laws were imposed that transformed the country into a democracy. The speciality about the Transición is that change happened within the system. Spanish Parliament, still from the Franco era, for example voted in favour of its own dissolution. In addition a new constitution was put in place, political parties were legalised and Spain held its first free elections. Most people argue that the Transición ended in 1981 because the new democracy survived a coup by the military, during which Franco loyalists occupied the Parliament.
An important figure in the transition from dictatorship to democracy was performed by the spanish king Juan Carlos. Even though he was Franco's successor, he decided against following the dictator´s autoritarian curse and pursued a democratic agenda.

#auslandsdienst #neverforget #auslandsjahr #gedenkdienst #freiwilligendienst #madrid #spain #democracy ... See more

The genocide in Rwanda began on April 6, 1994 and lasted until mid-July. The cause of murdering more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu dates back to the colonial times. During the colonization of Rwanda by Germany and Belgium, the then better-off Tutsi minority and the then worse-off Hutu majority split. Through this distinction the feeling of having to assign oneself to a certain ethnic group arose. After Rwanda's independence a Hutu government followed. This caused a systematic suppression of the Tutsi. The shooting down of the plane of the obtaining President Habyarimana 1994 led to the assassinations of prominent Tutsi and also more moderate Hutu. The Hutu government accused the Tutsi via the media for murdering the president and summoned the people to kill them. It was the beginning of cruel violence in Rwanda. After about a hundred days, the Tutsi guerrilla managed to defeat the army and the Hutu militias and put an end to the genocide.

#auslandsdienst #neverforget #auslandsjahr #gedenkdienst #freiwilligendienst #kigali #kigalirwanda #kigaligenocidememorial #kigaligenocidememorialcentre ... See more

Hanna (real name Johanna) was born in 1906 near Hannover into a jewish family. At the age of 18 she began her studies in Philosophy, Philology and Theology in Marburg. During that time she got in contact with Martin Heidegger. While studying at different german universities she had professors, such as Edmund Husserl and Karl Jaspers.
In 1929 she moved to Berlin and started to look at her religion from a philosophical point of view. In 1933 she was arrested by the Gestapo and fled to Paris after her arrest. In 1941 she left France after being detained in a detention camp. During her time there she thought a lot about Zionism and married her second husband Heinrich Blücher.
In the USA she wrote some of her most important publications such as "Origins of Totalitarianism" (1951) and "The Human Condition"(1958) and was a guest professor at Princeton and Harvard. In 1961 she covered the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem for the magazine “New Yorker”. Those texts are collected in the book “Eichmann in Jerusalem - A Report of the Banality of Evil” and were heavily criticised from parts of society.
Until her death in 1975 she continued writing and teaching. During and after her life she received numerous awards from various countries. ... See more

Marion Gräfin Dönhoff was born in 1909 in East Prussia and was editor-in-chief and co editor of DIE ZEIT. She grew up on a noble estate with her six siblings in East Prussia. At the age of 19 she took her A levels and began her studies in Frankfurt. When Hitler seized power, several professors were dismissed and she continued studying in Basel. After receiving her doctorate, she went back to East Prussia, where she managed the family estate. During WW 2 she had strong contacts with the resistance and played an important role in the group of July, 20th 1944.
After WW 2 she fled East Prusia because of the Red Army and started working at DIE ZEIT in 1946. She took over the political department and became a loud and active voice in german politics. In 1971 she received the Peace Price of the German Book Trade for her commitment to reconciliation with Eastern Europe. After retiring from day-to-day journalism she supported a program for ex prisoners and continued her work to improve the relationships between Germany and Eastern Europe. Dönhoff died in 2002 at the age of 92 and left behind numerous books. ... See more

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man/woman changes his/her own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him/her... We need not wait to see what others do.”

Mahatma Gandhi (real name Mohandas Karamchand) was born on October 2nd, 1869 as the fourth of four children in a family that belonged to the merchant caste (upper class) in Porbandar in West Gujarat / India.
After studying law in London, he went back to corrupt India to work as a lawyer, first in Bombay, then in his homeland of Gujarat.
Gandhi was the initiator of the nonviolent liberation of India from the colonial rule of the British Empire. He organized a movement that campaigned for the country's independence through non-violence, fearlessness and lack of interest in material. Among other things, he organized non-violent strikes against the colonial government and boycotts against imported goods.
After a campaign of violence got out of hand and Gandhi was imprisoned from 1922-1924, his next goal was independence from Britain.
The infinite number of counter-actions against the British (“salt march”, hunger strikes, etc.) finally led to India's independence on June 3, 1947.
Gandhi died in 1948 as a result of the assassination attempt by a nationalist, but one thing is clear: the world still celebrates the freedom fighter as a role model and national hero.

#austrianserviceabroad #serviceabroad #voluntarywork #ahimsa #nonviolence #independence ... See more

Hedy Lamarr was born in 1914 in Vienna and was an austrian-american actress, inventor and film producer. From an early age on, she was interested in acting and participated in various plays and films. In 1933 she became famous around the world due to her first film "Ecstasy", which was forbidden in some countries because of a particular nude scene. In the same year she married an austrian arm producer, who she left again a couple of years later. In 1938 she moved to the USA where she continued her career and participated in more or less 25 film productions.
During WW2 she supported the USA against Germany and together with Georg Antheil invented a technology that made it more difficult to jam torpedoes. Her new technology was not used until the 60ties and the US army gave the public access to it in the 80ties. Today her invention is particularly important because it is used for Bluetooth. During most of her lifetime she did not get recognition for her inventions. She was usually noticed for her private life and her beauty, while people forgot about her inventions, her engagement agains Nazi- Germany and in favor of reconstructing Austria after WW2.
Hedy Lamarr died in 2000 in the USA. Nowadays there are various books and films about her life. Last year there was an exhibition dedicated to her at the Jewish museum of Vienna.

#österreichischerauslandsdienst #auslandsdienst #freiwilligendienst #reisen #erfahrung
#hedylamarr #womeninscience ... See more