Die Ukraine – 40 Jahre Chornobyl, vier Jahre russische Vollinvasion. Diskussion und Zeitzeugenbericht mit dem Ukraine-Korrespondenten und Journalisten Bernhard Clasen

In the organizer's words:

40 years ago, the reactor disaster in Chornobyl, Ukraine, shook the world. People in Mönchengladbach were also worried at the time - about the people in Ukraine and Belarus, but also about their own children, who were suddenly no longer allowed to play in the sandpit.

Ukraine correspondent and journalist Bernhard Clasen lives in Mönchengladbach and reports from many years of experience in both Ukraine and Germany. Clasen was chairman of the now defunct association "Kinder von Tschernobyl, Mönchengladbach e. V." for over 20 years. He has been working as a freelance correspondent in Ukraine since 2014, including for taz.de, nd-aktuell.de and kna.de.

In conversation with presenter Daria Korniichuk, he will shed light on the health, ecological and social consequences of the reactor disaster. He will also discuss the emergence of local and international aid initiatives after 1986 and the solidarity movements that also developed in Germany - particularly in Mönchengladbach. Associations such as "Children of Chernobyl" played an important role in this and were committed to helping affected children and families for many years.

The focus will also be on the present: War has been raging in Ukraine since 2014. Against the backdrop of the Russian war of aggression, the question arises as to the long-term consequences for the country and its people, but also for Europe's future.

A joint event by the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus Foundation and Mönchengladbach City Library

This event is the ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME to the interactive photo exhibition "Pripyat. The Time Machine - The European Legacy of the Chornobyl Catastrophe.

The exhibition and the accompanying program invite visitors to commemorate the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, bring contemporary history to life and reflect on memory, responsibility and energy security in today's Europe.