On April 26th, 1986, reactor 4 of the Ukrainian nuclear power station Chernobyl exploded. Most hit by this catastrophe are the Ukraine, with being affected by 15%, and Belarus with 70% of the nuclear fallout. Prof. Dr. Edmund Lengfelder from the Otto Hug Strahleninstitut and University of Munich thinks it is realistic to assume that about 70,000 people died as a result of Chernobyl. Most common diseases caused by the Chernobyl catastrophe are thyroid gland dysfunctions and thyroid gland cancer. Other forms of cancer, such as breast cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer and prostata cancer have increased. Chernobyl affected the health of people in Western countries as well.
The NGO „Children of Chernobyl, Mönchengladbach e.V.“
In 1990, together with Dagmar and Rainer Ossig and Reinhold Chmielewski I founded the society „Children of Chernobyl, Mönchengladbach“. In the past 15 years we provided several hundred children of Chernobyl the opportunity to have a vacation in Mönchengladbach. Many children received medical treatment in our city. Relatives of sick and dead children were provided with support from our society as well.
From 1991 to 2001 we organized every year benefit performances of the Belarussian folklore ensemble „Chabarok“. “Chabarok” performed in schools, in churches, organizations and companies.
Unfortunately, there has been a decline of interest in the readiness to help the victims of Chernobyl during the past few years, so we had to make considerable cuts to our humanitarian programs.