Text: Svitlana Prokopchuk
In her new column for Journal B, journalist and media coordinator of the USB Association, Svitlana Prokopchuk, describes what at first appears to be an ordinary situation on a Bern tram, which unexpectedly turns into an experience of humiliation. Her attempt to help an elderly woman ends in aggression and xenophobic remarks, prompting the author to ask a painful question: where is her place in the world if her home is marked by war.
This episode becomes a starting point for broader reflections on discrimination — not only in Switzerland, but also in Ukraine. The author openly acknowledges that prejudice exists everywhere; only its forms change. She recalls stereotypes about foreigners in Ukraine, internal conflicts among Ukrainians after 2022, and even the Soviet legacy of mutual contempt between peoples.
Despite the personal pain, the text goes beyond individual experience and reaches a universal conclusion: discrimination is part of human nature, but a true society begins where people refuse to generalize. Openness, according to the author, is not naivety, but the ability to see complexity and not reduce a person to their origin. Thus, a personal story from a Bern tram becomes a profound reflection on identity, war, and hidden discrimination in Europe and Ukraine. Svitlana Prokopchuk’s column is an honest and painful text about living “between two worlds,” prompting readers to reflect on whether modern society is truly ready to accept the other.
Link to the article: https://journal-b.ch/artikel/tram-alte-dame-und-anfeindung-kleine-lektionen-einer-grossen-welt/
Illustration: David Fürst
