NEWS CENTER – Andrea Wolf, Şehid Ronahî was a German internationalist who was assassinated on October 23, 1998 in Çatak in northwestern Kurdistan along with six other Hevals by Turkish soldiers after they were captured alive. Şehid Ronahî was a member of the ARGK (Arteşa Rizgarîya Gelê Kurdistan), the People’s Liberation Army of Kurdistan, and a member of the women’s units of the YAJK (Yekitîya Azadiya Jinen Kurdistan) the free women’s association of Kurdistan.
Şehid Ronahî was a fighter, an internationalist who broke away from the leftist struggles in Germany and sought freedom. Until today, Şehid Ronahî has not lost influence with her struggle, her goals and her attitude. Many young internationalists who come to Kurdistan today bear her name, carry on her struggle and walk in her footsteps.
Our news agency spoke with a companion of Şehid Ronahî and asked her about her memories. Şervin Nudem from the Jineolojî Academy told us about the she-wolf and, in conversation with our news agency, clarified what we can learn today from her struggle, her attitude and her goals.
Şervin Nudem told us the following:
First of all, I remember all freedom fighters and martyrs in the person of martyr Ronahi (Andrea Wolf). 24 years ago, friend Ronahi was martyred in the mountains of Kurdistan. The war of the Turkish state to destroy the hopes of freedom continues even now. During the international conspiracy that was developed against the Leader, in those days, very extensive military operations were launched with the aim of eliminating the freedom guerrillas. Even today, we can say that those attacks that do not know borders continue with chemical weapons. On the other hand, when we look, we see that the struggle for freedom in the last 24 years has become the hope for the freedom of the entire humanity and has become even greater. That is, now the revolution of Kurdistan has been recognized all over the world. During this 24-year struggle, one of the friends who has become a benchmark for internationalist friends is Ronahi’s friend.
I met friend Ronahi in the early 90s. In 1992, when the peak of the invaders and imperialism was developing in Germany, the women’s and people’s movements wanted to build an alternative line, which was also the peak of the liberation forces. Comrade Ronahi has played a leading role in the organization of these activities. The internationalist form was established there, and it was there that the freedom movements of Latin America, the Philippines and the Kurdistan freedom movement came together and discussions were held in Germany for the salvation of humanity.
In the beginning of the 90s, the destruction of the structural socialism was experienced as a great disturbance among the left-wing groups. In an atmosphere where there were no hope for freedom, socialism was built from scratch. Friend Ronahi was always searching for the answer to this situation. Especially in those years, the struggle of the PKK under the most severe conditions became a perspective for a dignified life. This struggle of the PKK was an inspiration for the search of friends Ronahi. At the same time, the German state was looking for friend Ronahi, they arrested her, but at that time friend Ronahi told them “I will not surrender to this system”. Before that, she had been imprisoned twice in Germany, where she got to know the reality of the state well. That’s why she decided in prison that instead of surrendering to the state, she will go to the mountains of Kurdistan to get to know the Kurdistan freedom movement.
When she came to Kurdistan, she had the opportunity to go see the people’s Leader, she went to the him, and there the discussion between the martyr Ronahi and the Chairman had progressed. During these discussions, friend Ronahi gained a lot of trust. She received great strength from the interpretations and perspectives of the Chairman. Because the struggle of Kurdistan can create opportunities for a free life through resistance under any conditions. There were many studies on the ruling system and personality changes. In addition, Rêberti always believed that friend Ronahi would play an important role in the future as a revolutionary woman.
After comrade Ronahi stayed in the Chairman education for a while, at the spring of 1997, she went to the mountains of Kurdistan. In the first and second military operations on Zap, she got to know the reality of the war closely. The testimony of many friends made an impact on her, but she always had a question about how we can respond to these invading armies. Because the Turkish state gets its power and weapons from Germany and NATO forces. The resistance in Kurdistan is both against Turkish fascism and at the same time it is a resistance against the entire system of imperialism. A system that wants to destroy human life. On this basis, we got to know friend Ronahi very closely in the spring of 1998.
In the mountains of Kurdistan, the friendly forces of Ronahi were very strong. She was very interested in how to revive the revolutionaries everywhere, and how to revive the hopes of humanity for freedom. That is, in a short sense, one can say that not only did the guerrilla struggle become the basis, but also the ideological and political side. She defined the problem of women as the main problem of men. She raised a lot of concerns about how the women’s struggle can become the basis of the struggle for the freedom of the society. She did not want to limit the women’s struggle only to the woman’s personality, she wanted to connect this woman’s problem to the whole society through the revolutionary struggle.
One can say that the martyr Ronahi in Kurdistan was always investigating her own personality. She was looking at the characteristics that the capitalist modernity system has built in the society of Rojava (Europe) and she was looking at her personality. The struggle for the freedom of Kurdistan was like a mirror for martyr Ronahi. That is why she always wanted to spread the PKK’s struggle against the imperialism system to the whole world. And he joined with the belief that we can build a new international revolutionary front. That her participation was based on the freedom of women and the unity of peoples and the international spirit.
In this way, Comrade Ronahi was trying to transfer the experiences she had during his freedom struggle in Germany to her own struggle in Kurdistan. Before moving to Kurdistan, she was involved in many movements and activities. That’s why she had important experiences. In addition to that, she went to Latin America, where she got to know the people’s struggle for freedom and carried out its development. In this way, she shared all her experiences with her friends, at the same time, she told her friends how to protect herself against abusive men and how she did it herself.
Heval Ronahi attached great importance to her health, so she did not only for herself but also for all her friends, for example, she gave swimming lessons for her female friends in the mountains of Kurdistan. She used to write in her diary every day, in this way he described both the life around him and her personality. She had an active participation in life, and her friendships were strong with both new and existing friends. Heval Ronahi had an active attitude and lived a great passion in the nature of Kurdistan. She said; “When a person steps in this place, he feels like Mesopotamia is actually the cradle of humanity. In this place, a history of humanity was written and is still being written.”
In the summer of 1998, she was in the Botan area, in that year there were very heavy military operations. On October 23, their units were surrounded, and 23 comrades were martyred there, including Ronahi. When the enemy was calling for surrender, friend Ronahi raised a dignified stance against it and said; “I came to Kurdistan as a revolutionary believing in socialism, I will never surrender.” Enemies brutally tortured friend Ronahi there. The friends who later went to bring their friends’ funeral said: “The body of friend Ronahi was on one side and that of other friends was on the other side”. When I heard this, I immediately remembered that the enemy is even afraid of the dead bodies of our friends. The body of friend Ronahi was also dismembered.
The power and confidence that friend Ronahi built in her personality, the discussions she had with her friends around her, the effect of which is still present today is both a great influence and a powerful influence. I remember the Spring of 1998 was like a dream where people from all continents of the world tried to recognize the PKK revolution, to recognize the philosophy of Leadership, and with this to initiate new revolutionary steps in their countries.
Especially with the revolution of Rojava, with the participation of internationalist friends who were born in the last 20 years, one can realize the dreams of friend Ronahi in many ways. Many internationalist women who joined after friend Ronahi named friend Ronahi. Because friend Ronahi became an example with his determination.
We should not look for a solution within the boundaries of the system, because the system itself is the source of the problem. We have to pass that system from all sides. Comrade Ronahi developed this interpretation even at that time. Because many people said that it is necessary to build a strong revolutionary organization in Germany and after that you should come to establish your relations with the movements in Kurdistan. Friend Ronahi used to say at that time; “It doesn’t matter which step is forward or which step is behind, the important thing is that we revive the spirit of the revolutionary struggle, and we take new steps based on this responsibility and seriousness”. Heval Ronahi proved this with her life, and in this way she gave hope to many other friends.
At the same time, in 2019, the Andrea Wolf Institute was established under the umbrella of the Academy of Jineolojî in Rojava Kurdistan under the name of Andrea Wolf. We saw this as an important step, because Martyr Ronahi considered and united the search for women, life and society in his personality. Because of her extensive research about the revolutionary struggle.
On this basis, one of the main tasks of the Andrea Wolf institute is to strengthen the knowledge of the women of the world, women’s freedom struggles, and their relations with each other. At the same time, build new friendships with women around the world through research activities. To be able to respond to the system that is based on the genocide of women. Even today, it can form the foundation of the Democratic Confederalism of the women of the world. Things like this were dreams of friend Ronahi 24 years ago. But today even with small steps, big steps have been taken. Especially in these days, in East Kurdistan and Iran, women’s uprisings are rising under the slogan “LIFE! FREEDOM! WOMEN!“. This slogan has given new hope for the spread of the women’s revolution in the Middle East and the world, and yet as a response to the murdered martyr Nagîhan Akarsel who was the pioneer of Jineolojî. We can say that this line represented by martyr Ronahi is growing today and women from many parts of the world find their place in this struggle. We hope to achieve success in the near future.
