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06.05.2019

Reading "My Wounded Heart - The Life of Lilli Jahn" with autor Martin Doerry

Last night, around 100 interested people listened to the reading of Dr. Martin Doerry at the Human Sciences Faculty of the University of Cologne. Doerry read from the biography of his grandmother Dr.' Lilli Jahn "My wounded heart". Among the audience were many students of the Kaiserin Augusta School and the LESEPUNKTE co-operation schools, which made us very happy.

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  • Dr. Martin Doerry reads from the biography of his grandmother Dr.' Lilli Jahn and reflects the personal and public engagement with one's own family history (CC-BY 4.0 »school is open« 4.0).
  • Reading "My Wounded Heart - The Life of Lilli Jahn" on May 2, 2019 at the Faculty of Humanities in the framework of the project "100 Years of Alija von Alumni of the University of Cologne | Stories of Immigration to Cologne" by »school is open« 4.0
  • Doerry also faces tough questions and is firmly committed to solidarity with Israel, as a Jewish state, including Holocaust survivors (CC-BY 4.0 »school is open« 4.0).
  • Silke Bettina Kargl thanks Martin Doerry for the power to make the letters of his grandmother available to the public and to remind them of their fate (CC-BY 4.0 »school is open« 4.0).
  • Silke Bettina Kargl thanks the guest of honor Sarah Brukner from the synagogue community Cologne (CC-BY 4.0 »school is open« 4.0).
  • Gesine Boesken from the Center for Teacher Education Cologne moderated the event (CC-BY 4.0 »school is open« 4.0).
  • Laura Franke reads out the greeting from Dr. Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the fight against anti-Semitism (CC-BY 4.0 »school is open« 4.0).
  • Dr.' Lilli Jahn with four of her five children Gerhard, Johanna, Ilse and Eva. Photos from her biography "My wounded heart - the life of Lilli Jahn" by Dr. med. Martin Doerry, current paperback edition in Penguinverlag.

Martin Doerry reported on her life based on more than 500 letters to and from Lilli. In her letters comes Dr.' Lilli Jahn with her curious nature, her cleverness, her vitality and her humanity to speak. Dr. ' Lilli Jahn, born in 1900, graduated from the Kaiserin-Augusta School in Cologne in 1919. In 1924 she received her doctorate as one of the first women at the University of Cologne in medicine.

After being arrested and deported to the labor camp, she remained in a loving dialogue with her children. On smuggled papers she returned the letters and parcels of her children: She lived, loved, created hope and supported them, despite all the burden, longing, loneliness and despair. Lilli was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944.

Her children Gerhard, Ilse, Johanna, Eva and Dorothea survive the Shoah like a miracle. Their descendants live today all over the world, also in Germany and Israel.

The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger already reported the day before to Alumna Dr.' Lilli Jahn: https://www.ksta.de/kultur/den-anonymen-opfern-ein-gesicht-geben-32452978

We thank Martin Doerry for being our guest. We were particularly pleased to welcome Sarah Brukner from the synagogue community of Cologne as our guest of honor. Her conclusion: "It was a nice, no, an interesting and important event!". Many thanks also Gesine Boesken from the Center for Teacher Education (ZfL) Cologne for the short-term takeover of the moderation. We thank the patron of the project "100 Years of Alija von Alumni of the University of Cologne | Stories of Immigration to Israel", Dr. Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the fight against anti-Semitism for the welcome speech and our cooperation partners for the support: