Johanne Lohmann

“ You cannot realize the spiritual relief, which a friendly letter or a kind remembrance, the fact that old friends had not forgotten us through all those dark years, and the fact that so many people, even if they had never seen our country, felt compelled to help us get our daily bread, have meant at a time, when we had to realize that our life was too short to even try to undo the wrong, which in our name has been done in this world by a group of people, who had the power to say that they represented the ideas and the ideals of all Germany. ”

“ It is this faith, which we need, in order to overcome fear in our life. When you have lost your possessions, you realize that maybe formerly you have made them too important in your life, and that the fear of loosing them has made you a coward.
We are living in a world, which crucified Jesus, whom it loved, which murdered Mahatma Gandhi, who was adored by his people, which is afraid to work for peace because this word has been made the catchword of the enemies of our Western world. ”

“ Coming from a continent, where with every step you still stumble over traces of the past war, it is depressing to see the world getting ready to rearm again at a scale, which has never been heard of in the past. ”

“ By having the courage to realize that none of our possessions nor anything that was invented to make life agreeable, must ever become so important, that it will dominate us. We have proved to the world, that with faith, endurance and patience it is possible to reach any goal, for these qualities more than anything else have gradually won women the chance to take their place in a world, which for a long time seemed man's domain. ”

“ Germany after the war has often appeared to me like a person, who has just recovered from a nervous breakdown. You know, that often what seems a small task and normal speed to the healthy, is a great effort to such a recuperant. If he has enough time to rest up in peace, he will win his old self-reliance back, and be able to take up his place in life again. ”

“ We can do little for our brothers in the East, who live under great pressure, we can only let them know that we feel united with them in Faith, and that we pray for them, but maybe prayers alone are not strong enough to fight the evil spirits, which have broken loose. But money and arms alone are not strong enough either to break the powers of evil. ”

“ Money and arms must never become so strong that they invite abuse of the power, which they create, the way it happened in our country in the hands of Hitler. The lesson which we have learned in going through the past years is this: that the power, which arms and a strong economy are creating, will not help us, if they are not paired with the wisdom, which only Faith and the courage, which grows out of this faith, can give us. ”

“ Our country which has the frontier line between the Eastern and Western world in its own territory, where we know that an open conflict will mean that Germans have to fight against their German brothers is still divided in its opinion. On one hand we know from experience, what it means to have no protection for our population. ”

“ In our new Constitution in Western Germany it is said that men and women shall have equal rights. Consequently about 300 paragraphs of our German civil code have to be changed until 1953, because they are not in accordance with this new status of women. Women's organizations, men and women with legal training all over the country are working at this task, which involves such rights as, who shall determine the place, where the family lives, husband or wife, if their professional work should take them to different places? Should women loose their family name through marriage? ”

“ Those countries which have not been turned into war areas have possibly been ready earlier to realize the necessity of being strong in order to protect the Western world against attacks on its freedom - those, who had the war over and in their countries have been more reluctant to accept this idea. ”

“ Women in our country realize that it is necessary to have women with good and thorough training in public offices, and that it is not their task to fight men, as it sometimes happened in old suffrage days, but to cooperate with them, and to supplement their efforts for the well-being of their community, their country and - ultimately of the world. ”

“ You have heard from Frau Walther, how women in Germany try to face the situation, and to do their part in rebuilding our country. There are many achievements, which make us hopeful. Our cities have accomplished large building programs, industry has picked up and is working at full speed in many places. Some of our refugees have found a successful start in their new lives, people dare talk more freely in our Western Zone, and many of them have developed an attitude of responsible and self-reliant citizens. ”

“ In the whole, women have been more successful in these endeavours, because they often started practical projects together like polio drives, thrift shops, money raising campaigns for scholarships etc. Doing practical work together more than anything else has been a help in wiping out misunderstandings or prejudices in many instances.
As a visitor from Germany I know, it will never be possible to tell our American friends that their readiness to help us after the war has saved us from despair. ”

“ In many countries they shy from going into politics, but those women who have taken this step in our country feel that they should have an influence where laws are made, which will determine everybody's lives. In my home city of Bremen 11 out of 100 representatives in our parliament are women, we have three female judges, and we feel very fortunate to have a woman in our Senate in charge of Youth and Welfare Departments. ”

“ He may prevent his wife from working professionnaly, if he thinks that by working she neglects the care of the family. Government departments, political parties, educational institutions open their doors to women in Germany, and you find that they are beginning to take their place in higher positions in these institutions again, as they had done after the first World War. In our parliament in Bonn 8 % of its members are women. With the exception of Danmark and Finnland no other country in Europe has such a high percentage of women in parliament. ”

“ In many instances women in government positions or in parliament have joined in their efforts on common issues, and in thus cooperating have been able to overcome political or denominational differences, when working together for a cause, which concerned the welfare of all. ”

“ No one was there to save the lives of the great number of Germans who died on their flight from Eastern territories, in Poland, Czechoslowakia, Russia. We had no power to insist on the return of our war prisoners, nor to protect our property. ”

“ Women's responsibility in today's world In 1945 the drafters of United Nation's Charter brought women within the purview of the Charter, which meant that women all over the world have to face a new situation. ”