As the saying goes, good friends are easier to spot when life gets harder. Anyone who wants to convince themselves of the correctness of this wisdom should be at Baryschivka Square in Pullach at five o’clock this Sunday evening. “Pausing for Peace” is the title of the meetings that have been held weekly since the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here they stand shoulder to shoulder – the good friends and those people whose life is really very difficult right now, a nightmare for many of them.
They have fled their homes, sometimes head over heels, fearing for their lives, especially that of their children. Around 170 war refugees from the Ukraine have now been taken in by the Isar Valley community, most of whom are families without family fathers, who at the same time have to defend their country. The weekly pause for peace is very important for the refugees, say the chairman of the partnership association, Otto Horak, and his deputy, Barbara Kammerer-Fischer. There they can feel the solidarity of the people of Pullach as well as the bond with their compatriots. And when they end up singing the Ukrainian anthem together, one or the other battered soul may find some peace, at least for a moment.
On February 27, 2022, many people marched through the town of Pullach to show their solidarity with the attacked Ukraine. Since then, vigils have been held every Sunday.
(Photo: Sebastian Gabriel)
Because a paralyzing fear is omnipresent among many, the fear of bad news from their homeland, especially from the front. A hundred sons of the two Ukrainian twin towns of the Pullach community, Baryschivka and Berezan east of Kiev, have died since the beginning of the war. The commemoration of the dead is part of every Sunday meeting. “They help each other, tell each other, share the great fear and hope together,” Otto Horak had already written in March 2022 in the partnership association’s monthly newsletter. When their cell phone rings and a Ukrainian phone number appears on the display, some people’s hands tremble.
Since October 26, 1990, the municipality of Pullach has been a partner of the two Ukrainian municipalities, signed and sealed. On this day, the then mayor Ludwig Weber (CSU) and his colleague from Baryschivka, Mykola Kowalenko, signed the partnership document in the Pullach town hall and committed themselves to wanting to contribute to a secure peace. In the light of recent events, one detail of this treaty seems downright cynical; it is written in German and Russian – Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union at the time. As of February 24, 2022, it is certain that peace efforts have been in vain. But since that day, the partnership has been on even stronger footing.
Of the 125 registered municipal relationships that exist today between Ukrainian and German communities, Pullach and his Ukrainian partners are likely to cultivate one of the deepest. In 2022, Mayor Susanna Millennium (Greens) was named honorary ambassador for municipal development policy by “Engagement global”, a service of the federal government, representing the whole town.
Since the war raged, the partnership that was once kept alive with numerous mutual visits with many happy moments has in many respects become a long-distance relationship, albeit an extremely intense one. The already traditional visits by Ukrainian children in the summer have to be canceled for the time being, as well as the annual teacher exchange and the popular friendly visits by Pullach residents in Baryschivka and Beresan.
In view of the lower standard of living in Ukraine, the people from Pullach provided humanitarian aid in a variety of ways right from the start. Otto Horak believes that aid transports drove 35 times from Pullach to Baryschivka and Beresan, 2000 kilometers away, loaded with all sorts of useful things such as bicycles, an operating table, medical equipment for hospitals or solar collectors for a retirement and nursing home from 100 000 euros. Since 1991, when he accompanied a transport for the first time, at that time together with the then municipal and district councilor and today’s mayor, Susanna Millennium, Otto Horak has always gone along.
As chairman of the partner association, Otto Horak currently works a 40-hour week.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Since the beginning of the war, his voluntary work has turned into a full-time job. He works a 40-hour week, says the pensioner, and his deputy Barbara Kammerer-Fischer sacrifices every weekend and almost every evening for humanitarian aid. As great as the willingness of the people and companies of Pullach to donate, the generosity of the community and the commitment of the members of the partnership association, the local fire brigade and the boys’ association, the need is greater.
The collectors have since been destroyed in a Russian bomb attack on the old people’s facility. They should now be repaired. During a rocket attack on Baryschivka on March 11, 2022, entire towns and villages were destroyed, and three people were shot dead by Russian soldiers while trying to escape. Another transport of aid is due to start its journey to Baryschivka as early as next week. The load indicates the situation in the two partner communities: monitors, crutches, flashlights and headlamps, knee pads, motor units, chainsaws, surgical lamps, wheelchairs, bandages, Medicines, special medical needles and clothing.
The aid transport is taken over by Ukrainian helpers at the Ukrainian-Polish border. Two garbage trucks purchased by the city of Munich for 50,000 euros will soon be taken to Ukraine. They are largely financed by the Global Engagement service point. As with other large aid supplies, the community contributes ten percent.
In Pullach itself, 170 refugees from Ukraine are housed in private households who also need support. Among them was 39-year-old Vasylyna Trypolska and her daughter Liuba, who still live in the mayor’s house to this day. Previously, Trypolska’s sister and her six-year-old daughter were allowed to do so, but they have now found other living quarters in Pullach. Among others, the former SPD municipal councilor Arnulf Mallach and Michael Reich from the FDP have given Ukrainian guests a place to stay, and Helmut Ptacek (SPD) is making his living room available for language courses. Of course, the humanitarian aid also pushes the community’s infrastructure to its limits.
Children and young people, most of whom do not speak German, have to find a place in kindergartens and schools. The introduction of bridging classes has been a tried-and-tested instrument for this. German courses for mothers and seniors had to be organized, which has been successful so far, also because Ukrainian teachers who are staying in Pullach are involved. The Isartaler Tisch, which distributes groceries to the needy, now has to cope with a doubling of the clientele, instead of 200 as before, now 400 needy, also because refugees from Baierbrunn and Munich-Solln have arrived. It has to be bought in, saysexpand friend, the municipality will have to increase its grants.
The truck for the latest aid transport was quickly loaded, reports Barbara Kammerer-Fischer. A short message was enough, and shortly afterwards 20 Ukrainian and four local helpers arrived in the warehouse. Cataloguing, registering and the exact description of the items for the customs papers takes significantly more time. But what takes up most of all is the whole administrative clutter of paperwork that arises, among other things, when applying for grants, especially for large projects. For example, the partnership association is currently planning to purchase a solar-controlled pump for the water supply in Baryschivkaz. When looking for more housing for Ukrainian refugees, Horak and Kammerer-Fischer are counting on a rule change that will come into effect in May, according to which Ukrainians will be entitled to job center benefits. Calls from the Ukraine kept coming in asking, “May I come,” reports Otto Horak.
“The mines were scattered everywhere by the Russians, in fields, in drawers, even on dead people”
Where the willingness to help of the people of Pullach reaches its limits, that is the temporary psychological support for their guests who are in need. Already traumatized by the bad circumstances of their flight, many fear for their relatives who are still at home, especially since a spring offensive by the Russians is expected and attacks on Kiev may also be launched from Belarus. As a result, Baryshivka and Berezan could become a combat zone again. The greatest danger to life already exists for people there. “The Russians scattered the mines everywhere, in fields, in drawers, even on dead people,” reports Kammerer-Fischer.
Some of the Ukrainians who died in the turmoil of war were well known from their visits to Pullach, such as a district leader who died as a squad leader in the territorial defense. Or Julia’s husband, who looked after a group of children from the Ukraine in Pullach three years ago. “At the time she introduced me to her husband and her little girl, now her husband is dead,” says Kammerer-Fischer. Only recently mayor thousand friend sent a letter of condolence to Baryschivka, the former mayor’s son had died. A woman who is responsible for schools and day-care centers in her home town of Beresan and who has stayed in Pullach several times as part of the partnership has also had trouble sleeping for some time. In Ukraine, the maximum age for an exit permit has been lowered from 18 to 17. Her son, seventeen and a half years old, is now at the front.