When Rolf Konersmann heard of the town of Chernobyl in 1986 for the first time, he did not know that the consequences of the nuclear disaster would one day change his life.
He continued his everyday life until the spring of 1991 when his attention was called to the association „SOS` 86 – Children of Chernobyl” based in the Sauerland (in North Rhine-Westphalia, west Germany). An association which has worried and cared about the children of families from the contaminated region around Chernobyl already at this point of time.
To help, the organisation gave children and their families the opportunity to spend annually several weeks in Germany in order to offer their immune system a chance to recover from radiation exposure.
Rolf Konersmann was interested in the work of the association and together with his son and a friend he visited the founders of the association in Dorlar (Sauerland), Mr. and Mrs. Hussain, who informed Konersmann about the effects of radiation on the human organism.
After this meeting it was clear to Konersmann that the help for Chernobyl should also be coordinated in other parts of Germany, especially in Hessia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
After a journey to Kiev, the preparation of the establishment of a registered society began. Although this process was hindered by the German association law, all formalities were completed in 1992. Proximately, the inaugural meeting and the registration at the local court took place on 1 September 1992 in Worms.
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