Przemek, Germany, Age 66
The first 25 years of my life were spent in Poland, under a totalitarian system where I secretly learned about the free West by listening to Radio Free Europe at night and produced anti-regime leaflets in a darkroom. My grandfather, who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, spent over a year in the Auschwitz concentration camp before perishing in Mauthausen in May 1945.
For me, freedom meant escape; for my grandfather, it meant death.
I believe that the value of freedom changes over time—both individually and collectively. Today, freedom is a more complex and multifaceted concept. For some, it means freedom of speech; for others, protection from excessive corporate or governmental influence. We live in an era of increasing division, where the values deemed worth defending can differ fundamentally—even among neighbors.
Now, living in a democracy, the greater challenge is finding universal values and a common ground on which we can defend freedom together. A neutral stance ultimately means submission to totalitarian systems. But if people define freedom differently, can they still defend it together? Perhaps the key lies in seeking common ground rather than emphasizing differences—in identifying fundamental values that exist beyond ideology or personal beliefs.
