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Erich Karl ist Zeitzeuge im Fotoprojekt 'Ich lebe'

Erich Karl (105)
Germany

“THE UNSHAKEABLE ONE” - First World War (1914–1918)

Erich Karl was born into a simple working-class family in Weimar in 1913 shortly before the start of the First World War. After the end of the war, he received so-called “cocoa soup“ at school as a 6-year-old boy. These were financed with donations from Save the Children from London, issued in Weimar by the Quakers, for children from needy families, in order to restore their childrens' bodies, which had been scarred by war and hunger.

Ehemaliges Wohnhaus von Erich Karl in Weimar. Fotoprojekt Save the Children 100 Jahre
Überreste von Soldaten aus dem ersten Weltkrieg, Teil des Fotoprojekts 'Ich lebe'
“We talked very little about the war at home. We were brought up as political illiterates. 'Don't bother with politics! It won't do any good,' my parents said. The war was a taboo subject.”
Überreste von Soldaten aus dem ersten Weltkrieg, Teil des Fotoprojekts 'Ich lebe'
Erich Karl und seine Ehefrau

Erich Karl is a witness to two world wars, the Weimar Republic and the GDR. The 105-year-old lives in his own apartment in a retirement home in Berlin. His childhood during the war was a long time ago, his memories of it fragmentary, only the tin bowl for the hot cocoa is always present to him. The current crises feel very close. From his balcony, Erich Karl can look out over a container village where adults and children from Syria and Afghanistan live. They have fled threats and violence.

Der 106-jährige Erich Karl auf einem Spaziergang, Fotoausstellung Save the Children
“People were worried. Would there be riots or violence? I tried to calm them down: ‘Let them come first. Let’s wait and see how it goes. After all, they’re people in need.’’’
Der 106-jährige Erich Karl auf einem Spaziergang, Fotoausstellung Save the Children
Fotostrecke von Erich Karl, aufgenommen von Diminc Nahr, Fotoausstellung 'ich lebe'
Ein Kontainerdorf für Geflüchtete aus Syrien und Afghanistan, Fotoprojekt 100 Jahre Save the Children
“I think people in Germany could live more quietly and contentedly. They really could.”
Ein Kontainerdorf für Geflüchtete aus Syrien und Afghanistan, Fotoprojekt 100 Jahre Save the Children
Erich Karl, Überlebender des Ersten und Zweiten Weltkrieges auf seinem Balkon, 100 Jahre Save the Children

Only his silhouette is visible in the picture, not his face, into which all of these experiences must have been seared.

Ingo Zamperoni, journalist and Save the Children supporter

“FANFARE FOR A STEADFAST MAN“

Ingo Zamperoni schrieb über Erich Karl für Save the Children

The quiet evening moment in the life of the century-old witness Erich Karl inspired journalist Ingo Zamperoni to write his text.

Always kind and grateful for the help he received as a child, Erich Karl lived independently in Berlin. He passed away at his home on June 19, 2021, at the blessed age of 107. See here an obituary of the witness of the century:

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