”Are you really lucky?”, I have asked Myroslav and Bodil. Bodil and Myroslav are alike but in many ways different. They have both been witness to war but in two distinct ways. Myroslav fled from the Russian war against Ukraine. The war has been filmed, recorded, and covered by the news with rising death numbers and months that keep disappearing. Bodil experienced the quiet and inferior Nazi occupation of Denmark from 9 April 1945 to 4 May 1949. As Bodil herself described in an interview, she just had to keep living – it was never true warfare.
In modern Denmark, we are lucky to live in a country without a physical war like Myroslav who fled from Ukraine or the occupation Bodil experienced in the 1940s. Instead, we live in a region which has enough monetary aid to help other countries during wartimes. We are lucky to never have to fear the need to escape to a new country with different schools, a different language, and different norms.
But who decides if we are lucky? Is it the politicians that make their people bleed on their own money and problems? Is it global peace? Or maybe we are masters of our own destiny? I think both, Myroslav and Bodil chose to be just that despite their prerequisites as young individuals during the wars in their own way.
Both sweaters have the words “HELDIG?” or “LUCKY?” written on them (Photo: Private)
That is why we created two sweaters. The red and white knitted wool sweater Bodil is wearing represents her Danish roots and the simplicity of her life during the German occupation of Denmark. The circular red and white yolk symbolizes the cycle of life: how things continue to repeat themselves, both the good and the bad; no matter what life throws at you, you can overcome the trauma and the emotions. Moreover, it illustrates the dealing of the past and the future in a healthy way. The structured pattern appears reflective and rational. And in big letters the question “HELDIG?”, which means “LUCKY?” in Danish.
Myroslav is wearing a crocheted sweater with holes and an uneven shape to reflect the war he fled from. The sweater was created with the bare necessities, merely yarn scraps that would have been discarded otherwise. Nonetheless, Myroslav continues to be optimistic despite all these negative events. Once more, it displays how to process and deal with trauma.
Despite their history of being young during the wars and the seemingly never coming peace, they have decided to have a positive outlook. And perhaps, that is the worst part of it all. They are so used to the thought and subsequent fear of never seeing their loved ones again when they leave the house. They had become so used to the thought of war and destruction to such a degree that survival and sanity is only possible with optimism. Both sweaters have the words “HELDIG?” or “LUCKY?” written on them. It questions if they really were lucky – were they lucky they had the experience or are they lucky they got out alive?
And so, I ask you: Do you feel lucky?
