Germany: Activities in Bremen on World Anti-Torture Day

I personally feel that the Information Day activity held in Bremen was fairly successful and would like to share some of the stories.

On Saturday, World Anti-Torture Day, a female practitioner and I travelled to Bremen by train. We wanted to let people know about the persecution in China. We were carrying a display board reading ‘SOS help the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners on death boards in China' and 'China (the Jiang group) is persecuting Falun Gong', which attracted many people’s attention on the train. When we arrived in Bremen, the display boards also caught a lot of attention and many people were deeply touched when reading the content.

Unable to find our exhibition immediately, we wandered in the city centre, which was full of visitors. No matter where we went, everyone we met looked at the display board and it really became a mobile information desk. We were very happy to see so many German people supporting us. They smiled at us and showed their sympathy. I felt that this warm sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China accompanied us wherever we went. The happiest thing to me was that when we met some Chinese people most of them were families and some of them were friends, they gave us a big smile as soon as they recognised the display boards, it was a great encouragement for me.

When we finally found our exhibition, a lot of practitioners were already there, two were even from Israel. Some were distributing leaflets and others were demonstrating the exercises. The atmosphere was harmonious and wonderful. Every time I attend information day activities, it makes me feel at home.
I was standing with a practitioner behind the desk when a group of teenagers came to learn the facts. They took some leaflets and all signed the petition form to support suing Jiang Zemin. Some passers-by took photos of us with their mobile phones.

We made two display boards for Ms Wang Xiaoyan’s personal experiences. Her husband is now living in Germany and she is denied the right to go abroad by the Chinese regime. She was put into the notorious Masanjia Labour camp located in Dalian, the sister city of Bremen, and subjected to persecution because of her belief in Falun Gong. To avoid being arrested again, she left home with her five year old child and became destitute and homeless. Her sad experiences attracted much attention.

I saw an old Chinese gentleman standing opposite us and he seemed to be waiting for something. As I did not have any Chinese leaflets at the time I thus gave him a German leaflet and a beautiful postcard with a lotus flower. When he read the three words ‘Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance’ on the postcard, he recognised this was the leaflet about Falun Gong and quickly put it into his bag. I quickly ran back to the desk and took some Chinese leaflets and VCDs. When I came back he was still standing there and looking at our desk with expectation. I went to him and gave him the Chinese materials. When I saw the way he respected the truth materials and how happy he was, I told him in German, "Knowing the truth will bring you a wonderful future." I wanted to check whether he understood me and said, "This leaflet will bring you luck." Knowing the truth is luck and finally told him in Chinese, "Falun Dafa is Good; Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance is good." He smiled and nodded with kindness in his eyes. We then chatted for a while. He asked me whether I could read Chinese. I told him that I could speak some words. He was happy that I recognised the Chinese word Buddha.

A lot of visitors were from China. Many were happy to accept our materials, but there were also a few young people who refused. Older people had seen how the Communist Party persecuted people in China and were not surprised by what they have done. Although the young Chinese people did not accept our leaflets, at least they saw the kindness of German practitioners. Sometime when I saw people who refused to take the materials, I would feel sorry for them. But the kind wishes of Falun Gong practitioners will go with them to let them have another chance to learn about the truth.

A little boy came to our desk again and again. He smiled at us, showing he was comfortable to be with us. We gave him leaflets, beautiful postcards and a music CD. Then there came a lot of children, they watched everything and showed great interest in our postcards. A older boy took one more postcard to give to his teacher and wanted to let her know about the persecution. He also said, "This event could be a theme in the class discussion."

Several teenagers came over and made jokes about the torture pictures. One of the practitioners stopped their behaviour seriously, but did not mean to ask them to go away. Eventually all of them changed their attitudes, they not only took some leaflets, but some of them even signed the petition calling for an end to these human rights violations.

Three middle school students watched the pictures showing practitioners bodies that were harmed by the torture. I told them these people were tortured just because they would not give up their belief in Falun Gong. One of them suddenly ran away so quickly that her actions made me jump. However, she came back in tears after a while.

Her two friends looked at me and did not know what to do. Later on I told them that this kind of reaction was common in people who had seen these pictures. They listened to me for quite a long time and learnt a lot about the persecution. Especially the story of Zhao Ming - a lot of people offered their help, and he was finally rescued out of the labour camp with the help of the Irish government. They took quite a few leaflets when they left, hoping to do something to stop this persecution.

Many passers-by offered their sympathy and support for Falun Gong practitioners. A gentleman learnt about the measures the Chinese regime used in the persecution and spoke out loudly, "They must be cracked down there. He signed the petition for suing Jiang and his wife took leaflets to help us distribute them."

When we were packing up and ready to go, one of my dreams came true. I met a friend that lost contact with for a long time as he moved house. His Chinese friend happened to accompany him and was eager to learn about the truth of Falun Gong, he read the display boards carefully and wanted to learn the exercises immediately.

As the activities finished, some practitioners sang a Chinese song together. At the time there came a gentleman that had strong connection with China in his career. He was very interested in our materials and wanted to learn the exercises. He was very happy to know there are Falun Gong classes in Bremen.