Soraya Alekozei

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Soraya Alekozei
Born1955 (age 68–69)
Kabul, Afghanistan
AllegianceGermany
Service/branchBundeswehr
Years of service2004-2011
RankOberleutnant
Children2

Soraya Alekozei (born 1955) is an Afghan-German

interpreter and veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan six times between 2004 and 2011 as a reserve officer in the Bundeswehr. Alekozei worked in military broadcasting and served as an interpreter for local politicians and German International Security Assistance Force officials. She founded an orphanage in Kabul. Alekozei was seriously wounded by an improvised explosive device
in May 2011 and later authored a memoir about the experience in 2014.

Early life

Alekozei was born in Kabul in 1955.[1] Her first cultural connection to Germany was through her Western-minded grandfather who attended the German-founded Amani High School and was an official for the Afghan king.[2] She married with Wali Alekozei.[3] He was participated in a study abroad program and the couple relocated to Bonn in 1976 for his studies where their first of two sons was born. After suffering from homesickness, they returned to Kabul. Shortly thereafter, they returned in to Germany in December 1979 due to the Soviet–Afghan War.[2]

Career

Alekozei worked at

ISAF officers at a security conference in Taloqan. During the conference, Alekozei was injured in an improvised explosive device attack that killed 16 fellow soldiers. She had 34 surgical operations after the event.[3][1]

In 2014, she published a memoir about her experiences: Sie konnten mich nicht töten: Als Afghanin im Einsatz für die Bundeswehr [They Couldn't Kill Me: An Afghan on Duty for the German Armed Forces] (in German). Ullstein Ebooks. 30 September 2014.

References

  1. ^ a b Käppner, Joachim. "Das bist nicht du". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  2. ^
    ISSN 0174-4909
    . Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Mackerodt, Maicke (29 December 2014). "Attentatsopfer Soraya Alekozei - Über 100 Splitter im Körper". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ .