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Erich Karl is 107 years old.
Born in Weimar in 1913, he was still a toddler during the First World War.
Nevertheless, he can remember the hunger and the food donations that he received from the international child protection organization "Save The Children Fund", which was founded by the Englishwoman Eglyntane Jebb.
Erich Karl
"
Yes, that was the case, not all children were affected. Those were the poor or large families who all needed little extra help. And that's why we mostly got cocoa at school like me Can remember.
And that helped?
Yes, apparently yes, I've gotten so old.
"
The book "I live! How children survive wars" tells the story of Erich Karl and others.
"Save The Children" and the renowned war photographer Dominic Nahr have published the picture text volume together.
Dominic Nahr
"Amal is very important to us because she was the first to be photographed"
Martina Dase, Save the Children
»The father said: You can take photos of any of my children. But this girl won't work, because she is traumatized from the escape from Homs in 2014. And she is so withdrawn that we can no longer reach her. And while I'm still talking to father, I hear a camera trigger from inside the tent, and we go in and see Dominic with Amal in front of his camera. And this quiet, withdrawn girl has transformed. Suddenly she is self-confident, and you notice: she wants to show herself. And at that moment we kept looking at each other and, I think, we had the same thought. If we now make a book about children in war, then it shouldn't show the victims, but rather it should show the children as they want to be seen. "
More than 100 years have passed since the end of the First World War.
Wars and the suffering of children remain.
According to the United Nations, more than 93,000 children have been killed or maimed in military conflicts since 2010 alone.
A total of 426 million children lived in conflict areas in 2019, almost every fifth child worldwide.
Ten decades, ten wars and ten life stories from children of that time are in "I live!"
documented.
The photographer Dominic Nahr traveled around the world for the book for a year and met people who had to go through war as a child.
The portraits are accompanied by guest authors, including violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Anne-Sophie Mutter
"This look hits the heart straight away and it should hit us there too, because it should shake us up."
Vichuta Ly
»I fell asleep and covered my ears.
I didn't want to hear anything.
When I woke up, I saw my mother, sister, and brother crying.
I asked what happened.
They said my father was taken away.
«
Vichuta Ly was nine years old when the Khmer Rouge committed a genocide in their homeland of Kamboschda in the 1970s.
In a refugee camp she met Anne Watts, who worked as a nurse for Save The Children.
Vichuta Ly
“
Someone said Save The Children needed volunteers.
I didn't know what I was going to do, but I made up my mind.
I had no idea about it, I just went there.
And then I started working with Margaret, an Australian nurse.
The medical things interested me and I met Dr.
Cox and Anne know.
I hooked up with Anne.
We rode our bikes through the refugee camp together.
«
The two women are in contact to this day.
The book does not want to portray the war children as victims, but as self-confident survivors.
Dominic Nahr, photographer
»
I think it's important that people look at this project and really think about their story.
And know that people's strengths are also that they can survive.
And what does all this need and what really happened there.
I think our generation, right now, it's all about now, shopping, getting the latest and we don't really think back.
«
There is now accommodation for refugees across from Erich Karl's apartment.
This brings back memories of his difficult times - and of the help he received.
Erich Karl
“First of all, they're people like us. And that they leave their homeland, probably not in a voluntary way. That reminds me in particular of my childhood, back then. That people have always found me who have tried to help children or the general public, to support a little. "
