A conversation with two Lund residents who experienced WW2 as children in Germany.

Jutta Beer (*1938) experienced the 8th of May 1945 in a heavily destroyed Leipzig together with her mother; her father was at the Western front where he had already served during WW1. After the war, Jutta grew up in the German Democratic Republic and worked in the administration of the German Protestant Church until 1999. Therafter, she moved to a small village in Blekinge and, in 2024, to Lund. 

Günther Liebisch (*1935) experienced the 8th of May 1945 in the small town of Hagenow together with his mother and sister. French prisoners of war had been foreced to dig a simple bunker in the backyard of his house to protect the family against advacing Russian or American troops. His father had already ‚fallen' in August 1944 during a fight against resistance fighters in Poland. Günther came to Sweden in 1968, where he worked as a priest for the Swedish church (inter alia in Dalarana); since 2019 Günther lives in Lund. 

Questions in English may be asked, but the conversation will be conducted in Swedish. 

Please register by emailing: emilija.branda@jur.lu.se 

Arranged by the Museum of International Law 

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two on 8 May 1945. Like no other war, WW2 has shaped the political, social and - not least - the (international) legal configuration of our world. The UN and its various sub-organs (e.g. the International Court of Justice), the EC/EU and the International Criminal Court, to name just a few, were created explicitly with the aim to prevent future wars. Against the background of increasing tensions around the world, it is opportune to reflect on the legacy of the Second World War and, in particular, on the war’s impact on the lives of ordinary humans.