Unprecedented terror pervaded the superpower USA
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Memories from Switzerland
1. "I was 5 years old, at the dentist with my siblings and my dad. He used to work for a big international company and had many American business acquaintances and friends and all of a sudden he kept getting calls and text messages. We drove home right after and saw what happened on TV.
My parents tried their best to tell me what had happened and to put it into context. It really bothered me and me and my siblings apparently wouldn't sleep well at night after the attacks, I kept having bad dreams. Somehow, even though I was very young, 9/11 and the severe horrors of it got to me and brought a life-long lasting sense of how cruel some people can be."
- S. B.
My parents tried their best to tell me what had happened and to put it into context. It really bothered me and me and my siblings apparently wouldn't sleep well at night after the attacks, I kept having bad dreams. Somehow, even though I was very young, 9/11 and the severe horrors of it got to me and brought a life-long lasting sense of how cruel some people can be."
- S. B.
2. "I was 8 years old and can remember coming home after school, wearing a red jacket and a blue backpack, and upon entering the apartment, seeing my mother inches in front of the TV and on her knees. I was obviously confused and asked if she was alright. She turned to me with tears in her eyes and first just made the 'shhh' gesture and then motioned for me to come closer. The images on the TV were of the smoking towers.
The full gravity of the situation didn't hit until some time later; after all I was just 8 back then and didn't really comprehend what was going on - only that it seemed to be really bad.
Being a kid I didn't watch the news for much longer, so I never really saw the downfall of the towers until many years later on YouTube.
Obviously in every country you will encounter SOME acts of violence, but definitely not on such a scale. Keeping Switzerland as an example here, living in a country that hasn't been victim of such gruesome acts or participated/been affected by war in an eternity is a privilege. In times before the internet was a huge thing, terrorism or war just wasn't something you were confronted with at that age already - sure, you learned about it in school, but only later. I would assume that most kids around my age felt the same way because I can't recall having heard any kids talking about this in the following days."
- M. C.
The full gravity of the situation didn't hit until some time later; after all I was just 8 back then and didn't really comprehend what was going on - only that it seemed to be really bad.
Being a kid I didn't watch the news for much longer, so I never really saw the downfall of the towers until many years later on YouTube.
Obviously in every country you will encounter SOME acts of violence, but definitely not on such a scale. Keeping Switzerland as an example here, living in a country that hasn't been victim of such gruesome acts or participated/been affected by war in an eternity is a privilege. In times before the internet was a huge thing, terrorism or war just wasn't something you were confronted with at that age already - sure, you learned about it in school, but only later. I would assume that most kids around my age felt the same way because I can't recall having heard any kids talking about this in the following days."
- M. C.
Timothy McVeigh, domestic terrorist behind the Oklahoma City Bombing, was executed exactly 3 months before 9/11.
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3. "I was 15 and on my way back home from school. In the bus, I heard two other guys talking about an attack on towers in the US. For some reason I thought they were talking about the domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh who had bombed a building and had been sentenced to death, so I didn't really pay attention. When I came home and switched on the TV, I realized what they had been talking about. I was scared and had a lengthy phone call with my friend.
The next day at school, we didn't do anything except watching CNN for the whole day. People were shocked, all the flags were at half-mast and people were putting flowers in front of American businesses (McDonald's, Starbucks etc.). There was a huge wave of solidarity in Switzerland and the whole world. However, this solidarity immediately turned when the US decided to invade Afghanistan." - Gion Last |