Irmela Mensah-Schramm
Irmela Mensah-Schramm (* 1945 in Stuttgart ) is an activist for human rights and a former curative teacher at a Berlin school for people with intellectual disabilities. Irmela Mensah-Schramm is known for her documentation and removal of racist and anti-Semitic stickers and graffiti all over Germany, which she started in 1986 .
Life
From 1969 to 2006 Mensah-Schramm worked as an educator and curative teacher. In her second marriage she was married to an African. From 1975 she supported refugee counseling at Amnesty International . After the fall of the Berlin Wall , it extended its elimination of racist slogans and symbols to other federal states. With over 100 exhibitions on the subject of "Hate Destroyed" and many visits to classes, she documents her work, which she carries out without government or other support. During her work, she is often exposed to hostility and a lack of understanding of her actions. Several proceedings were opened against her and discontinued. In addition to threats of violence, she also received death threats. When removing stickers and graffiti, it is sometimes impossible to avoid damaging a pane of glass or a company sign, which she accepts because human dignity is of greater value to her.
When she painted over a graffito "Turks gas" in 1992, an employee of the security guard of the Berlin transport company pushed her backwards to the station guard's house at the Friedenau S-Bahn station , which caused her to fall on the back of the head and to be treated in the hospital for a traumatic brain injury . He then filed charges of trespassing, property damage and bodily harm, she in turn reported the security guard because of bodily harm, both proceedings were discontinued. For a long time she has made it a habit never to go outside without a bag with a camera, brushes, paintbrushes, solvents and paint. The songwriter Gerhard Schöne honored her with the song "The courageous woman".
On May 27, 2018, on the sidelines of an AfD demonstration, against which she protested, she was temporarily arrested and subjected to identification services because she had not complied with a dismissal. However, she said that she had previously agreed on her location with two policewomen, the police referred to security reasons for the arrest.
Irmela Mensah-Schramm's extensive collection of self-removed stickers formed an essential part of the exhibition “Angezettelt. Anti-Semitic and Racist Stickers from 1880 to Today ”, which was shown in 2016 in the German Historical Museum Berlin . One room in the exhibition portrayed Mensah-Schramm and her work.
In 1981 Mensah-Schramm became a member of the “ Alternative List ”, the predecessor organization of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen Berlin . She is also a member of the Zehlendorfer Peace Initiative.
"Notice! Hate away "
In May 2016, Mensah-Schramm sprayed the demand “Merkel must go” in “Remember!” In a pedestrian tunnel in the Berlin district of Zehlendorf. Hate away ”. She justified this by stating that such a demand could only be “a Pegida hate slogan”. The Berlin public prosecutor's office initiated criminal proceedings for property damage after residents notified the police and their patrol officers had filed a complaint. At the beginning of October 2016 she was sentenced to a fine of 1,800 euros on probation for one year because she enlarged the lettering and used the color pink. The prosecutor announced an appeal because the verdict was "too mild" and the convict was "unreasonable". Irmela Mensah-Schramm then announced her appointment. The proceedings were discontinued in July 2017 after the Berlin Senate Administration withdrew its criminal complaint and the public prosecutor's office denied the public interest in prosecution.
In 2017 the association “Remembering and Responsibility” started a petition for Irmela Mensah-Schramm. The comments of the supporters should be given to Irmela Mensah-Schramm as a book.
In December 2018 she sprayed the “NS” with a heart in Eisenach with the words “NS-Zone”, for which she was sentenced in October 2019 by the Eisenach District Court to a fine of 1,050 euros for damage to property and in March 2020 on an appeal by the Thuringian Higher Regional Court acquitted for minor guilt, lack of public interest, and patchy evidence.
Awards
- 1996: Federal Merit Medal - was returned by her in 2000 after she learned that the former NPD and later CDU politician Heinz Eckhoff , who was a member of the SS at the time of the Third Reich , was also honored with the Federal Cross of Merit.
- 1998: “Ribbon for Courage and Understanding” of the “Together for Foreigners” initiative from the Office of the Foreigners Commissioner of the Berlin Senate
- 2005: Erich Kästner Prize of the Press Club Dresden eV "for your moral courage "
- 2006: Active Prize for Democracy and Tolerance from the German Federal Government
- 2015: Göttingen Peace Prize
- 2016: Silvio Meier Prize
Web links
- I. Mensah-Schramm: The Berlin Graffiti Archive: Active against hate graffiti. 2008, lecture
- Hatred destroyed. Website for Mensah-Schramm's touring exhibition “Hate Destroyed”, 2010
- Annette Blaschke: With a scraper and paint against Nazi slogans. In: Deutschlandradio , July 18, 2005
- Video: The Hate Destroyer. In: Vimeo , 2011, 4:24 min., Portrait of Mensah-Schramm.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annette Blaschke: With scraper and paint against Nazi slogans. In: Deutschlandradio , July 18, 2005.
- ↑ Regina Finsterhölzl: With a scraper and steel wool against Nazis. In: the daily newspaper , July 28, 2007.
- ↑ Wibke Bergemann: The hate hunter. ( Memento of 6 November 2014 Internet Archive ) In: forward ., Time visor 2007, No. 07-08, (PDF, 2 pages, 653 KB).
- ↑ Lyrics: The courageous woman. In: buschfunk.com .
- ↑ Arrest of anti-AfD protester. taz.de, May 28, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ^ Because of protest against AfD demonstration: 73-year-old Irmela Mensah-Schramm arrested. Jetzt.de, May 28, 2018, accessed May 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Initiated. Anti-Semitic and Racist Stickers from 1880 to Date. Published by the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technical University of Berlin and the German Historical Museum, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86102-197-1 .
- ↑ Imprint / Contact. In: hassvernichtung.de .
- ↑ Stephanie Teistler: Warning for “Remember! Hass weg! ” (No longer available online.) Rbb 24.de, October 7, 2016, archived from the original on February 18, 2017 ; accessed on August 27, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kemal Hür : Court warns activist for human rights. deutschlandfunk.de , accessed on October 6, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Supporters collect signatures for "Polit-Plaster". rbb 24.de, accessed on August 27, 2017 .
- ↑ The pensioner paints over hate slogans: the proceedings are discontinued. In: Der Tagesspiegel . July 10, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2017 .
- ^ Petition for Irmela Mensah-Schramm
- ↑ Higher Regional Court acquits activist against the law , MDR.DE, March 20, 2020
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↑ Hilde Meier: “Everyone should see what I'm doing!” ( Memento from June 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: dieBerlinerin.com , February 25, 2003, portrait.
Violent dispute over the award of the medal. In: Die Welt , November 11, 2000. - ↑ 2015 | Irmela Mensah-Schramm. In: Göttingen Peace Prize .
- ^ Dpa : Activist Mensah-Schramm receives Silvio Meier Prize. ( Memento of the original from November 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: berlinonline.de , November 16, 2016.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mensah-Schramm, Irmela |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German curative educator and human rights activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stuttgart |