The war against the Ukraine affected the Rieder entrepreneur Gerald Salletmeier several times. The managing director of InnWert GmbH, known for the Outdoorer brand, has been married to Ukrainian-born Natalia for twelve years, has lived in Kyiv for two years and set up his own sewing workshop there for his brands. Rieder closed its plant in Kyiv on the first day of the war and at the same time started an aid campaign for the Ukraine via its online shop. 20 percent of sales go directly to the Red Cross/neighbor in need.
Bomb during phone call
There are harrowing moments that the Salletmeier couple and Natalia’s family have been experiencing since February 24th. “We were just recently on the phone with an aunt, and during the conversation a bomb fell nearby. We didn’t know what happened for two days. At least we know now that she’s still alive,” says Gerald Salletmeier. He and his wife celebrated the turn of the year with relatives in Ivankiv, a town north of Kyiv. “Natalia had a bad feeling back then, but the locals didn’t believe in an attack at all,” says Rieder. “There is nothing left where we celebrated New Year’s Eve, everything is destroyed there. Grandma and great-grandmother live here, they have now fled to relatives in the country. They have something to eat and drink there, that’s the most important thing . But we have no contact with them at the moment.”
Rapid relief action
The sewing shop near Kyiv has only recently been relocated and brought up to the latest state of the art. Around 30 employees work there. Production has been at a standstill since the beginning of the war, but that doesn’t stop Gerald Salletmeier and his company from helping. “Of course we are also stricken as a result, but we give everything we can to help,” says the entrepreneur. 20 percent of the sales from the online shop go directly to the Ukraine aid of neighbors in need. “It’s important to get help from organizations like the Red Cross or Caritas, which have a good infrastructure,” he says. Private aid organizations are often faced with problems in Ukraine. “The decisive factor is the targeted help with food, medicine, water or hygiene products,” he says, adding: “Support in finding accommodation for the people who have fled the Ukraine is also very important.” He has now accommodated ten people.
Sabrina Markova and Alina Oleksiuk work for the Rieder company. Both have been in Ried for a month and fear for their families in the Ukraine. “My parents and grandmother live in Donetsk, my brother was able to escape from Mariupol on the first day of the war, my husband is in Moscow – it’s terrible and hurts so much. Nothing in our lives will be the same as before, this uncertain future makes us like this torn.”
Alina Oleksiuk’s father stayed behind in Ukraine, he still works there. The stepmother and two sisters fled to Poland. Her feelings are “like a curve that goes up and down in waves. When it’s up, we have hope, we’re proud of our country, the people, our president, but five minutes later there can be a low, and then you think of all the dead and the destruction. At the moment I’m cautiously optimistic…” says Alina.
Video: Interview with Gerald Salletmeier, Sabrina Markova and Alina Oleksiuk
“Any help is important”
Both helped look after the refugees who had arrived in Ried when they were initially admitted. They report: “People were all very tired, but they looked ahead: where can I get a job, how can I get my children to school, where can I learn German? And as soon as it’s possible, these people want to go back back home, they weren’t homeless before,” say Alina and Sabrina.
Any help is important, say the two young women: “All information is important, it’s important to think critically about the reports – what is propaganda, what is truth? Food, medicine, water are important.” Both are proud of the President of Ukraine and say: “We do not lose hope that the war will end soon, that Ukraine will win and that we can all hug each other again.”
Source: Nachrichten
