“The Wormwood Christmas Tree”

“The Wormwood Christmas Tree”

Book presentation and discussion with contemporary witnesses

Youth literature on the deportations of Russian-Germans in the Soviet Union

The book, written by Olga Kolpakowa, tells older children and young adults the story of Mariechen, a girl who was deported with her family from the region Rostov to Siberia in 1941: expulsion and Christmas with a Christmas tree made of wormwood in exile from the perspective of a child.

Today, there are around 3 million ethnic German immigrants living in Germany, including "Mariechen" - Maria Fitz (86) and her large family.

Many ethnic Germans still live in Russia. Many of them share collective memories similar to those of the many ethnic German immigrants from the various regions of the former Soviet Union: their parents and grandparents were suspected of collaborating with the German Wehrmacht under Stalin because of their ethnicity and deported to Central Asia and Siberia.

The author Olga Kolpakova has published several books for children and young adults on this topic in Russia. "

“The Wormwood Christmas Tree” was published in Russia in 2017, initially in Russian, and in 2018 and 2021 in two editions translated into German as “Der Wermutstannenbaum” by Elsa Obholz in the publishing house of the biweekly newspaper “Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung”. The drawings are by the Ukrainian illustrator Sergej Uchatsch (Jena).

In the summer of 2022, the book was banned in the Russian region of "Ural" and removed from libraries. The author, herself of German descent, experienced threats and harassment...

Programme

Opening remarks

Dr. Gundula Bavendamm, Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation

Historical introduction

Edwin Warkentin, Cultural Department for Russian-Germans

Readings from the book

Youths from the community centre "Zuhause in Gelnhausen" (Hesse)

Podium

Olga Kolpakova, author
Maria Fitz, protagonist of the book and contemporary witness
Edwin Warkentin, Cultural Department for Russian-Germans

Moderation

Dr. Olga Martens, Editor of Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung/ Community Centre for Ethnic German Repatriates Gelnhausen
Dr. Gundula Bavendamm, Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation

Afterwards we invite you to a small reception.

Free admission.

Livestream of the event via our YouTube channel Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung.