On the anniversary of the genocide in Shengal on 3 August, numerous memorials will take place in various German cities. Yazidi organizations are demanding support for the people of Shengal and an end to the attacks by Turkey.
This year marks the ninth anniversary of the Islamic State invasion of Shengal and the consequent genocide and femicide of the Yazidi population in northern Iraq. Men were murdered, boys used as child soldiers, women and girls raped and taken into slavery. More than 2,500 of them are still missing today. On the anniversary on 3 August, various memorials will take place in Germany.
The Central Association of Yazidi Associations (NAV-YEK) and other Yazidi organizations are demanding support for the people of Shengal and an end to Turkey's illegal attacks on the region. The German federal government is being asked to follow up the Bundestag's recognition of the ISIS massacre as genocide.
According to the Society for Threatened Peoples, around 200,000 Yazidis live in Germany. The Yazidi community consists of around one and a half million people worldwide. In Shengal, there were approximately 500,000 until the 2014 genocide. In Turkey, the community originally comprised around 300,000 members. Today there are only a few hundred. In Syria, their number is estimated at 4,000.
Memorials and events in Germany
In Herford, the umbrella organization of the Ezidische Frauenräte e.V. (SMJÊ) together with the integration council organize an event titled "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" in the Lutherhaus.
“Lutherhaus” parish hall | Oetinghauser Weg 6 | 32051 Herford | 17.30pm
Celle will host the German premiere of the film "Letters from Şengal" (Nameyên ji Şengalê) by Dersim Zerevan.
Chamber light shows at Brandplatz | New Street 14 | 29221 Celle | 6pm
In Löhne, the Society for the Promotion of Culture and Science (Ezdai) will organize an evening of action and commemoration including the lighting of candles on 2 August. Among the invited guests are the TV presenter and representative of the Central Association of Yazidi Associations in Germany e. V., Yilmaz Kaba, and the Oldenburg lawyer Necdal Disli.
Moated castle Ulenburg | Ulenburg Buchenallee 16 | 32584 Wages | 7pm
Achim: Marktplatz, 28832 Achim, 4pm
Berlin: Dersim Kulturgemeinde Berlin e.V., Waterloo-Ufer 7, 10961 Berlin, 4pm
Emmerich: Mala Gel e.V., Nierenberger Straße 150, 46446 Emmerich, 5.30pm
Heidekreis: Vogteistrasse 2, 29690 Bad Fallingbostel, 2pm
Saarbrücken: Europagalerie, Trierer Straße 1, 66111 Saarbrücken, 6pm
Wesel: Ezidisches Kulturzentrum Mala Êzidîya e.V., Ackerstraße 242, 46487 Wesel, 5pm
