Traditional association of former protection and overseas troops
The traditional association of former protection and overseas troops - Friends of the former German protected areas e. V. was founded on June 3, 1956 as the umbrella organization of the local comradeships of the old imperial protection troops in Germany and the former German South West Africa , which were re-established after the Second World War . One of the forerunner organizations was the German Colonial Warrior Association .
Structure and history
The roots of the association go back to the year 1896, when an association of former comrades of the African protection troops was founded in Berlin for the first time .
Originally, only members of the former protection and overseas troops were accepted as members in order to "continue to cultivate the comradeship experienced in a bygone era of common achievements and sacrifices in a distant world of palm trees, steppes and deserts."
In 1983 the name of the association was supplemented by the addition of Friends of the former German protected areas to make it clear that anyone can be a member of the association.
Today, in addition to relatives of former soldiers and residents of the former German colonies in Africa , the South Seas or East Asia, many younger people with an interest in the history of the former German colonies are members of the association. The member badge is a stylized protection troop hat ; Association flag the Petersflagge , the association's headquarters are in Hamburg .
Statutory duties
The association is committed to the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and the right of peoples to self-determination . He is politically neutral. In its statutes , with particular reference to the former German colonies, it set itself the following tasks:
- Dissemination of regional and historical knowledge
- Promotion of historical research
- Correction of untruthful representations
- Preserving the memory of the war victims
- Commitment to the maintenance of monuments
- Promotion of international understanding
The traditional association organizes donation campaigns for various humanitarian aid campaigns in the former German colonies, supports monument and grave maintenance and colonial history research, among other things by organizing specialist conferences. It is recognized as a non-profit by the German tax authorities.
criticism
Critics accuse the association of apologetically glorifying German colonial history and of playing down the crimes associated with it and of denying it in parts.
Regular publications
- News bulletin (internal association for members)
- Bulletin (Shorter Colonial History Articles)
- Contributions to German colonial history (booklets with individual works)
- Internet magazine of the homepage (shorter articles on colonial history)
literature
- Bulletin of the traditional association of former protection and overseas troops eV No. 83, anniversary edition, 100 years of traditional association, 1998
- Werner Haupt : One hundred years of traditional association of former protection forces. Bulletin No. 80 of the traditional association of former protection and overseas troops / Friends of the former protection areas eV, Wuppertal 1997.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ taz - the daily newspaper from January 10, 2004
- ↑ Uwe Schulte-Varendorff: "Schutztruppe", in: Ulrich van der Heyden and Joachim Zeller (eds.): Colonialism in this country - A search for traces in Germany. Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2007, ISBN 978-3-86680-269-8 , pp. 386-390 (here: p. 389).