"We were really happy about the fall of the Wall, it meant that our family could meet without complications, that our parishes could meet. But the euphoria that we saw in lots of people, that wasn’t so pronounced with us. Because we knew that what was to come wouldn’t be easy.“
Christine Cyrus was born the daughter of a farmer in Thuringia during the second world war. Her father was abducted by the occupying Soviet army in 1946 and her mother raised Christine and her siblings alone. In 1958 Christine’s mother decided to flee to the West but Christine stayed in the GDR as she was engaged. She married a pastor and lived from the 1970s on in Berlin-Friedrichshain, performing parish welfare work. She lived through the Peaceful Revolution and the system changes in Friedrichshain and still lives there today. Since 1990 she has been involved in the action group "Kinder von Tschernobyl", organising summer holidays in Brandenburg for children from Chernobyl and the region affected by nuclear contamination since the reactor disaster.
See here for more information on Christine Cyrus‘ work and husband, Pastor Eberhard Cyrus:
"We were also looking for a bit of a challenge" (only in german): https://fhzz.de/christine-und-gerhard-cyrus/
Preparation of the workshop days in the Galilee Church in Berlin (only in german): https://www.ddr-im-blick.de/jahrgaenge/jahrgang-1981/report/vorbereitung-der-werkstatttage-in-der-galilaea-kirche-in-berlin/
About us - action group children of chernobyl (only in german): https://www.aktionskreis-kinder-von-tschernobyl.de/über-uns/