Youth Exchange
On June 16, 1996, the Jamaican born British citizen Noël Martin became the victim of a racist attack in the small town of Mahlow in Brandenburg , Germany . He was one of the approximately 80,000 construction workers from Great Britain and Ireland who worked in Germany at this time. He was chased in his car by two 17 and 24 year old right-wing oriented men. When they passed him at high speed and threw a rock through his car window, Noël Martin lost control of his vehicle and his car hit a tree. Since then he is paralyzed from the neck down. The perpetrators, sentenced to five and eight years in prison, have finished their terms and live in freedom. They have never shown any remorse, and Noël Martin has never received an apology.
On 14th of July, 2008, Noël Martin finally established the "Noël- and Jacqueline-Martin-Foundation", thus creating a steady base for the first contact between German and British youths.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the attack on Noël Martin, the Blankenfelde-Mahlow community invited seven young people from Birmingham to Germany. Together with young German people from Mahlow, they took part in the events around June 16, 2016. On the traditional cultural summer day, the local advisory board set an example for tolerance and against xenophobia. British and German young people took part in the "Festival of Diversity" that the Brandenburg community celebrated at this time. The young people celebrated together and learned more about the culture and customs of each other.
