“The end usually comes unexpectedly, quietly and without warning, but if you know the end, is there still room for joy, for love, for happiness? The end that one sees is usually the final but an unknown end happens in the head. My end has come a long time ago.” – An except of Alexander Schütte's goodbye letter with the title “The Evening”.
Alexander Schütte (18) jumped on the 12/06/2018 at 8:50 a.m. from the window of his secondary school in Burg by Jerichow. He was bullied from primary school and suffered from depressions.
“I thought I had to endure it. I knew nothing else but violence in my life. I was beaten and mentally abused at home, so I came to school as an insecure child. I was very withdrawn. The other children just wanted to get in touch with me, they would call me and and because I didn‘t respond, they teased me. I contributed to being bullied by my seclusion.”
– Wolfgang Vogel (52) was bullied for 10 years at school in Dresden.
This picture is taken at Wolfgang Vogel‘s former school toilet. One of the peaks of phsyical violence
during his education was when classmates tried to baptise Wolfgang Vogel (52) in the school toilet. He can‘t remember details of the accident anymore.
“I was still invited to the birthday parties and was part of the clique, but they talked a lot behind my back. No matter what I did, I got my ass kicked. I was an outspoken, confident and stable girl, and the bullying destroyed that.” Alexandra Niemeyer (20, name changed) was bullied by
her friends in 5th and 6th grade in northern Germany. After the summer holidays, she decided to find new friends and the bullying situation dispersed. Today she studies pharmacy in Leipzig and works as a volunteer in an NGO to support children who experience cyber bullying.
Lina Meinhard (35, name changed) lives nearby Munich, where she also attended school. After she and her boyfriend broke up, classmates started picking on her from seventh grade till her graduation in 9th grade. She recalls: „Nothing I did was right. They would hit me and say, a slap on the back of the head increases the ability to think.“
In seventh grade, classmates spread rumors about Lina Meinhard (35, name changed) being raped. Strangely, she was the one blamed for it, not the boy who was the perpetrator of the story. Lina Meinhard started to cut her underarms and tried a suicide once. Since her family still doesn‘t know the details, she wants to remain anonymous.
Katharina Grether (40) was bullied from first to tenth grade at school in Stuttgart, Germany.
When her son was entering school in 2011, Katharina Grether (40) started to remember her school traumas. She decided to write down her experiences and published two books. Today she gives workshops at schools in Stuttgart to teach children about their role in bullying and how they
can help prevent it.
“The end usually comes unexpectedly, quietly and without warning, but if you know the end, is there still room for joy, for love, for happiness? The end that one sees is usually the final but an unknown end happens in the head. My end has come a long time ago.” – An except of Alexander Schütte's goodbye letter with the title “The Evening”.
Alexander Schütte (18) jumped on the 12/06/2018 at 8:50 a.m. from the window of his secondary school in Burg by Jerichow. He was bullied from primary school and suffered from depressions.
“I thought I had to endure it. I knew nothing else but violence in my life. I was beaten and mentally abused at home, so I came to school as an insecure child. I was very withdrawn. The other children just wanted to get in touch with me, they would call me and and because I didn‘t respond, they teased me. I contributed to being bullied by my seclusion.”
– Wolfgang Vogel (52) was bullied for 10 years at school in Dresden.
This picture is taken at Wolfgang Vogel‘s former school toilet. One of the peaks of phsyical violence
during his education was when classmates tried to baptise Wolfgang Vogel (52) in the school toilet. He can‘t remember details of the accident anymore.
“I was still invited to the birthday parties and was part of the clique, but they talked a lot behind my back. No matter what I did, I got my ass kicked. I was an outspoken, confident and stable girl, and the bullying destroyed that.” Alexandra Niemeyer (20, name changed) was bullied by
her friends in 5th and 6th grade in northern Germany. After the summer holidays, she decided to find new friends and the bullying situation dispersed. Today she studies pharmacy in Leipzig and works as a volunteer in an NGO to support children who experience cyber bullying.
Lina Meinhard (35, name changed) lives nearby Munich, where she also attended school. After she and her boyfriend broke up, classmates started picking on her from seventh grade till her graduation in 9th grade. She recalls: „Nothing I did was right. They would hit me and say, a slap on the back of the head increases the ability to think.“
In seventh grade, classmates spread rumors about Lina Meinhard (35, name changed) being raped. Strangely, she was the one blamed for it, not the boy who was the perpetrator of the story. Lina Meinhard started to cut her underarms and tried a suicide once. Since her family still doesn‘t know the details, she wants to remain anonymous.
Katharina Grether (40) was bullied from first to tenth grade at school in Stuttgart, Germany.
When her son was entering school in 2011, Katharina Grether (40) started to remember her school traumas. She decided to write down her experiences and published two books. Today she gives workshops at schools in Stuttgart to teach children about their role in bullying and how they
can help prevent it.
Shirin Abedi
Photojournalist | Hannover, Germany | Fotografin aus Hannover