As of: February 27, 2024, 11:02 a.m
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Ukrainian women in Hechendorf cooked in the Bürgerstadl as a thank you (from left): Viktoria, Hanna, Luba, Larissa, Olga, Oksana and Natalie served a national dish of borscht.
© DAgmar Rutt
Ukraine War: Commemoration of the anniversary with a meal to thank the helpers.
Hechendorf
- When the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine shocked the world two years ago and forced numerous Ukrainians to leave their homeland, many of them found a safe haven in the Hechendorf district of Seefeld.
To mark the anniversary on Saturday, some Ukrainian women in the neighborhood help group thanked the people who offered them protection and security with a traditional Ukrainian dish.
The event was accompanied musically by Ricardo Volkert, supported by Bernhard Seidel and by the violin playing of father and son of the Rudyk family, who fled from Kiev.
Natalie cut “Petrushka and Ukrop” on a board, which is Ukrainian for parsley and dill.
Meanwhile, Oksana (57) was peeling potatoes piece by piece, which she tipped into a huge pot in which the traditional Ukrainian dish “borscht” was simmering.
Katharina Braun from Neighborhood Help arranged tulips in vases and distributed them on the tables.
Hanna complemented the yellow spring greetings with a Ukrainian flag and wrote thank you cards.
The 35-year-old fled Kiev with her son David (8) two years ago.
She said she could see the explosions from her window there.
The engineer worked at 3M in Ukraine and was lucky enough to be able to transfer her position to Seefeld.
She is happy with the apartment in which she lives with her son, who has also found a large circle of friends.
Still: “I miss my life,” she said haltingly.
She misses meeting friends she has known since childhood and walking on familiar streets and paths.
She adds sadly: “It will never be the same again, even when the war is over.” Many fled, and those who stayed were traumatized by the war.
But she looks forward, her son is integrated and her German is already good.
Natalie, who also works at 3M, has built a new life for herself on Lake Wörthsee.
The lawyer's 16-year-old son attends secondary school.
Oskana is actually a software developer.
She has been looking after the little ones in the forest kindergarten in Seefeld with great enthusiasm for two years.
“I lived with a family and really wanted to work,” she says.
The idea of working in the forest kindergarten was just right for her.
“I’ll try that out,” she decided – a decision that still makes her “very happy” to this day.
Katharina Braun estimated the number of guests on Saturday at 100. The cooks mingled with the visitors and chatted animatedly with them.
“It’s nice to see how they get into conversation with the locals,” said Braun, who has been helping out for two years.
“Some have moved on, others have gone back.
Those who stayed here already speak German well, many work and want to stay,” she reported.
Michele Kirner