„I joined the field in 1981 when I was twelve years old. I was born in Asmara, but later I grew up in Tokhombia, Gash Barka. There were ELF fighters around me, but I always wanted to join the EPLF. First because I have two brothers who have joined the EPLF, and my feelings were always going with my brothers … I was a member of the Kayehti Sahel, so I joined them …. My military training was in Arag, it was in 1981, between 1981 and 1982. We had one year military training. Military training was okay with me, because since I have accepted that my country has to be liberated, I had to .. I must accept every hardship that might come with the military training or whatever. The only thing I didn’t like was the picking up of firewood. … There was no academics. We had to do the same (as the adult fighters). Because we were so small (in numbers), there was no different training. So I was doing everything, the Fitoraris [amharisch = ursprünglich amharischer Adelstitel, in der EPLF als Bezeichnung für die minderjährigen Jugendlichen im Trainingscamp benutzt. – d.V.], whatever the fighters were doing, as cleaning weapons, and .. putting the things together, so there was no difference. … After I finished my military training, I was assigned to the 51st batallion at Gumbar Nacfa. At Harima. Because I was very young, I had never attended war. I was just going around with them, gaining experience, knowing what they were doing. But in 1984 [im Alter von 15 Jahren, d.V.] I became a real combatant fighter. I started fighting in 1984, so I came to Tessenei. There was a .. so in Tessenei while I was fighting, I was head injured and backbone injured, and I was disabled. From 1984 to 1991 I stayed with the disabled.“
Dieses Interview führte Quehl am 24.11.1998 mit der weiblichen Person „T.”.
- Quehl, Hartmut: Kämpferinnen und Kämpfer im eritreischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg 1961-1991 – Faktoren der Diversivität und der Kohärenz – Eine historische Untersuchung zur Alltags- und Sozialgeschichte des Krieges. Band 2, 2.2.3.2. Die Gewöhnung an das Grauen des Krieges. Felsberg, 2005, S. 83.
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