“I’m afraid there will be a nuclear war,” said Henry, 13, in the northern German city of Sarstedt.
He is not alone. Young Germans are increasingly concerned about the war in Ukraine, and in particular the idea that the conflict could spread to other countries or that Russia could use its own nuclear weapons. This is according to a survey of 206 young people aged 13 to 17 who took part in a survey on 2 and 3 March by the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI) in Munich, a think tank funded by the public broadcaster BR of Bavaria.
“Nine out of ten teenagers are worried and anxious about the situation in Ukraine,” the study found.
They have two specific concerns: First, “that other countries will be attacked because one country is not enough [Russian President Vladimir] “This in particular could be a NATO or EU nation like Poland, thus bringing about a ‘Third World War.’ And second, ‘Russia will threaten us with nuclear bombs’ and the German authorities could not warn people of an impending attack in time to reach safety.
“Where to take refuge?”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine made young Europeans think what was unthinkable just three weeks ago: that war could come to the European Union.
“The possibility of a Third World War, or worse, a nuclear war, scares me and many of my friends,” said Gül, 17, who lives in Rheinfelden, near Germany’s border with Switzerland. “My parents came to Germany from Turkey to look for a better life. And now I wonder what we will do if there is a real world war. Where can I take refuge? What will my life be like? Will I even go out alive in this country?”
German teenagers were born after the wars in the Balkans saw NATO and German involvement in the late 1990s. Fears of Russian aggression are even more in the past – not just for the younger ones in society.
“For the generation of my parents who grew up during the Cold War, the nuclear conflict was a real possibility,” said Julia, a 35-year-old high school teacher in southern Germany.
“And even after the fall of the Soviet Union, they continued to be skeptical of Russia and did not see it change much. They say they feel prepared for the moment, although the scale of the attack surprised them. My generation and the “The generation I teach, the war, especially the nuclear war, in Europe felt like the most remote thing imaginable; until three weeks ago.”
The German TikTok and Instagram are flooded with videos on how to prepare emergency meals, speculation about how likely an attack in Germany may be. They attract hundreds of thousands of likes.
Google searches for potassium iodide tablets to help prevent radioactive poisoning have been launched across Germany following reports of an attack on Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant.
Depressive and difficult
“It’s hard to hear the news because what is happening in Ukraine right now is scary, even for us German teenagers,” Erin, 17, said in Frankfurt.
“It’s frustrating because we like teenagers in Ukraine. Seeing daughters and dads have to say goodbye and not know when they will see each other is very difficult for me,” he said. She added that the issue was rarely discussed at school, but was divided as to whether or not it should be, as the issue weighed so heavily on her.
The IZI study found that despite what adults might have guessed, most German teenagers still got most of their war information from their parents, public television and the mainstream news website – sources they considered more accurate.
Henry, 13, told Sarstedt outside Hanover that he was “concerned about the people of Ukraine” and that his classmates were quick to raise donations for refugees.
According to the IZI, after local news, what the teenagers wanted most was to learn how to help their peers who had to leave their homes.
Not only were social media sites full of “how can you help” posts, but interest groups such as sports clubs and the environmental movement Fridays for Future have temporarily shifted their focus to fundraising and organizing solidarity marches in support of Ukraine.
Sociologist Klaus Hurrelmann of the Hertie School in Berlin believes this could prove to be part of a real shift in young Germans’ priorities: “Fear of war could replace climate and environmental concerns, which have always been at the forefront. “Research in the past ten years,” he told the daily The World.
IZI study leader Maya Göth urges parents and teachers to allow teens to “express their thoughts and concerns” in a constructive way, rather than underestimate them.
Edited by: Rina Goldenberg
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