I received this badge along with my diploma after graduating from university in the former Soviet Union in 1976.
It could be worn on the collar of a suit during work. I didn't want to, but the badge was still like a trophy for me. This qualification and the associated good career opportunities gave me a different status in Soviet society than my parents, who had been displaced by the war and politically persecuted. As a child, I spent five years of my life with my parents in an internment camp. The deprivations and deprivation of liberty, as well as the political persecution of my parents, are part of my biography. With their eight children, shaped by war and existential fear, my parents had only one vision: education and freedom for their children. This aspiration became the family's tenet. Education enabled me to advance socially and receive considerable professional recognition. It fostered my critically reflective perception and gave me an awareness of taking a political stance. In 1982, I was able to leave the country that despised my parents but gave me the chance to acquire the privilege of "dissenters"—with mixed feelings. The Iron Curtain behind me, freedom before me!
After arriving in the West, I quickly realized that I once again belonged to a stigmatized group—this time as an "Aussiedler" (repatriated German). Thus, my parents' beliefs—"education and freedom"—suddenly became a focus of renewed interest. This also included connecting the foreign with the new, the unknown with the experience one brought with oneself. A Story of Freedom: The Badge. Many opportunities were granted to me: a new vocational training, a degree, and countless continuing education courses that could never satisfy my thirst for knowledge. I repeatedly took every opportunity to escape the stigma. Here, too, social advancement enabled me to participate, gain independence, and feel good. It also fostered my awareness of my own privileges. There was no badge for this. I gave myself that in my thoughts. At 67, I say: "Education is never completed with a badge. Education enables integration, social advancement, and participation! It sets us free! Education is a journey that will never end for me as long as I live."
