“Doubts are also spreading in my mind. Aid deliveries to Ukraine are certainly necessary, but does it also make sense to drive donations to refugee camps and to the Ukrainian border? After all, there is already help on the ground. Besides, people won’t stay long in these places anyway and will move on. …..Maybe a bit much actionism after all?” (Excerpt from the book Forsaken Land by Knuth Martens)
These questions are certainly asked by many who have already donated clothes and toys for an aid transport for people who have fled Ukraine. This was also the case for 53-year-old Dr. Knuth Martens from Brühl, who, together with his wife Stefanie, drove 12 vehicles, two trucks and 39 tons of relief supplies towards the Polish-Ukrainian border at the beginning of March. The transport was organized by the non-profit association “Menschenfreude”. For one week, the 24 drivers distributed clothes, toys, hygiene items, blankets against the freezing cold, food and also monetary donations in different refugee shelters and at the border near the Dorohusk border.
Emotional experiences from “Forsaken Land
Knuth Martens impressively recorded his experiences, impressions and adventures in his book “Verlassenes Land: Über Menschen und Menschlichkeit im Ukraine-Krieg”. In 120 pages, he describes the moving interpersonal encounters with refugees from the Ukrainian war zone. Photos at the end of the book give a visual impression of what was experienced. The aid convoy also brought 37 people from the border to Germany or neighboring countries, including Daria and her mother, who rode in the car with Martens and his wife to Germany and with whom the Martens family is still in contact today.
On August 17, the reading from the book took place in the Gieldsdorf village community center in front of about 65 interested listeners, including many Ukrainians. One of the four co-managers of the village community center present that evening – Albert Schäfer – opened the evening. Followed by a speech of the founder and chairman of the association Menschenfreude, Jürgen Perteck. Before Martens began his reading, he told how the book idea came about in the first place, because he hadn’t originally planned to write a book. But as more and more people asked him about his experiences, he began to write them down. With his book and the descriptions of individual refugee fates, Martens wants to promote further help.
The proceeds of the event, as well as from the sale of the book, will go to the association Menschenfreude and thus further support families affected by war. Since the first aid convoy more than four months ago, further aid transports of the association have been heading for Ukraine every 2-3 weeks.
Ukrainian musicians bring evening to a close
The evening was musically accompanied by two young Ukrainian women, Diana and Maria, 15 and 16 years old, from Kiev, who both fled Ukraine with their mothers on March 10 and now live in Bonn. Both impressively showed their musical talent and sang moving Ukrainian songs from their homeland, which touched the audience emotionally.
The evening was musically accompanied by two young Ukrainian women, Diana and Maria, 15 and 16 years old, from Kiev, who both fled Ukraine with their mothers on March 10 and now live in Bonn. Both impressively showed their musical talent and sang moving Ukrainian songs from their homeland, which touched the audience emotionally.
The reading was rounded off by the church choir “St. Cäcilia” from Alfter-Impekoven and choirmaster René Breuer, among others with the song “Imagine” by John Lennon, which became the anthem of Ukraine since the beginning of the war. “Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for….” That’s what we would all like to see.
More information about the book
The book is available in bookstores and online. Jürgen Perteck, Kathrin Anderseck and Knuth Martens are also happy to accept larger orders by email.
Info about Ukraine-Help from Menschenfreude e.V.
- Read more: Blog post about the aid transport to the Polish-Ukrainian border that resulted in the book.
- Read more: Blog post on the preparations for the transport.
- Read more: Blog post: Call for donations for Ukraine.
- Follow our promotions on Instagram and Facebook.
- You can also donate via Paypal (www.paypal.me/menschenfreude), keyword: Ukraine. Click on the link or donate button below this post.
