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BBC News
06-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Family of Guernsey WW2 doctor meet with patient's relative
'I would not be here if not for WW2 doctor' 12 minutes ago Share Save Olivia Fraser BBC News, Guernsey Share Save Kowald family Dr Albert Kowald, who is known as the "good doctor", with his daughters Helga and Irmtraud The family of a doctor who risked his life to supply medicine to islanders during the Occupation of Guernsey has had an encounter with a relative of one of the people he helped. Luftwaffe officer Dr Albert Kowald was stationed in Guernsey during World War Two. However, the former SS officer was imprisoned by the Germans after he was discovered to be helping islanders and was not released until Liberation Day. At a book launch on Monday, there were a number of surprises in store for the family, including a meeting with Margaret Richardson, whose father and grandfather were treated by Dr Kowald. Dr Kowald's family and researchers who worked on the book attended the launch The book about Dr Kowald's life, called The Good Doctor, was published with the help of his daughters, sons in laws and researchers. Enlisting historian Richard Heaume, researcher Olivier Bailey started to piece together the story using letters and artefacts back in 2018 for the family. It was launched at the Occupation Museum, where Dr Kowald's son-in-law Horst Schmidt-Bischoffshausen and daughter Irmtraud Zotti signed copies. Mrs Zotti said: "It means quite a lot and I am so happy that now this book has been finished. I nearly didn't believe that it would be." Mr Schmidt-Bischoffshausen expressed how proud he was of his father-in-law. "It was very risky for him, fortunately he survived," he said. Margaret Richardson's father penned a letter of support for Dr Kowald Mrs Richardson, whose father William Carre suffered with asthma, said she had "such a debt of gratitude for this family". Without Dr Kowald's medication, she said she did not know if her father would have survived. "If this hadn't happened and hadn't got through this, I wouldn't be here," she said. Mr Carre wrote a letter of gratitude in support of Dr Kowald in the hope he could use it as evidence of his good actions. The letter was signed by 16 islanders, but it did not help, and just days after being freed by the British, Dr Kowald was taken away from the island and moved through a number of prisoner of war camps. It was not until 1947 until he was fully free and allowed to continue to practise as a doctor. The family of Dr Kowald were keen to hear from any others whose relatives may have been helped by him. Dr Albert Kowald kept his daughter's birth announcement with him Researcher Oliver Bailey presented Mrs Zotti with a second surprise at the evening. During his research, Mr Bailey said he had found her birth announcement, which her father had kept with him during his imprisonment. He said there had been "ups and downs" to the research but he was proud to have helped uncovered so much. "There are more leads now, so we might have to do a second edition," he said. Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to
Russia Today
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
EU state calls for Schengen ban on Russians
Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis has urged EU member states to stop issuing Schengen tourist visas to Russian citizens, claiming they pose a threat to the bloc's national security, media have reported. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU has fully suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia and imposed travel restrictions. Latvia, along with Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and the Czech Republic, has banned tourist visas for Russian citizens. Norway, which shares a land border with Russia, and is not an EU member state, has also closed its border for Russian tourists and other 'non-essential' visitors. Presenting so-called Schengen Barometer data for 2024 in Brussels on Thursday, Kozlovskis said the EU 'must admit' that it is 'in a hybrid war' with Russia, and that 'this affects the daily work of security institutions both on the border and within the country,' X reported. He urged the bloc to 'seriously recognize the threat' that Russian tourists allegedly pose to the EU's internal security, asserting that a complete visa ban was the bloc's 'moral duty.' To justify his initiative, Kozlovskis claimed that Latvia has encountered 'illegal border crossers and acts of sabotage,' including 'the arson of the Occupation Museum, border crossings by drones, and propaganda attempts to influence public opinion.' The number of Schengen visas issued to Russian passport holders surged by 25% last year compared to 2023, surpassing 500,000 in total, despite sanctions targeting Russian applicants, according to the Schengen Barometer tracker. Italy led in visa applications received from Russians, accounting for 28% of all requests and granting 134,141 visas, which made it the primary destination for Russian tourists within the Schengen Area, data showed. Last month, the National Security Committee of the Latvian parliament drafted a law proposing a travel ban to Russia and Belarus for certain government employees. The restrictions would also apply to transit through these countries. Latvia has taken a hardline anti-Russian stance since the conflict in Ukraine broke out, announcing sweeping travel restrictions for Russian nationals including barring Russian-registered vehicles from entering the country. Along with neighboring Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia has also exhibited hostility to its ethnic Russian minority, which currently comprises around 25% of the country's population. In addition to spending more than 1% of its entire GDP on weapons for Ukraine, Latvia has begun to deport thousands of Russians who refused to take or failed a mandatory Latvian language test. It has also destroyed Soviet-era World War II monuments, as well as arresting dozens of people for celebrating the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
