40 years as a reporter at the front: Antonia Rados turns 70 on Thursday

She went where no one wanted to be to show the public what it was like in embattled regions of the world: TV journalist Antonia Rados worked as a war correspondent for 40 years. She delivered reports from countries such as Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and most recently Ukraine and gained international fame with her television appearances. She celebrates her 70th birthday on Thursday in peace, having retired the previous year.

Rados always wanted to reflect the realities, to hear all sides, to keep their distance, not to give their opinion. That’s how she learned her job, she explained in one of many farewell interviews last year. “We are eyewitnesses, not fighters,” said the journalist. However, it is not always easy to meet the demands placed on one’s own work. “In crisis and war zones you have to constantly fight against your own feelings. Because first of all you are a human being and you see things that touch you very much. Suffering, death, violence.”

In retrospect, it is difficult for her to imagine that everything went well. Three times a day she marvels at her happiness. Rados completely rejects the label of heroine returning from war. “I have a bulletproof vest, a helmet, logistics, a fax. Sometimes I’m ashamed of how privileged I am there. There are so many people who have to stay, who have nothing to eat, who suffer.”

Rados was born on June 15, 1953 in Klagenfurt. After studying political science, she joined ORF in 1978 and was to work there until 1991, reporting from places like Chile, Iran and Romania. “I hadn’t the slightest idea what to expect, but I wanted to try it. Not only were there no women in the profession at the time, there were also hardly any opportunities to report from these countries,” says Rados.

In 1995 she went to the German media company RTL, where she became well known for her involvement in the Iraq war in 2003. About her work during this time she stated: “It’s a permanent scanning of the borders.” When she finally left the country, she felt “addicted to air and good food, a hot bath and good music”.

In 2007, she caused a stir with the report “Feuertod” about Afghan women who set themselves on fire. A year later she switched to ZDF. But several months later, RTL announced her return, where she stayed until her retirement in 2022. In the spring of last year, she was still on duty in the Ukraine.

She keeps a low profile about her private life. But she emphasizes that it is more important to her than the war. “I’ve met many war correspondents whose private life was a victim of their job. I never wanted that,” says the journalist, who lives in Vienna and Paris.