Soraya Alekozei (born 1955) is an Afghan-German interpreter and

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

who was deployed to Afghanistan six times between 2004 and 2011 as a reserve officer in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

. Alekozei worked in military broadcasting and served as an interpreter for local politicians and German

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

officials. She founded an orphanage in Kabul. Alekozei was seriously wounded by an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

in May 2011 and later authored a memoir about the experience in 2014.

Early life

Alekozei was born in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

in 1955. Her first cultural connection to Germany was through her

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-minded grandfather who attended the German-founded

Amani High School Amani High School, also known in German as , ( prs, لیسه عالی امانی) is a school in Kabul (District 10), Afghanistan. From the time of its founding in 1924 until 1985, Amani High School was recognized as one of the elite schools in K ...

and was an official for the Afghan king. She married with Wali Alekozei. 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 The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

Career

Alekozei worked at

Deutsche Postbank Postbank is the retail banking division of Deutsche Bank, which was formed from the demerger of the postal savings division of Deutsche Bundespost in 1990. Since May 2018, it operates as a brand of Deutsche Bank's retail arm. It serves 13 million ...

. As a reserve officer, she joined the

in 2004 against her children's wishes. Alekozei moderated an Afghan Bundeswehr broadcast and served as an interpreter for

Franz Josef Jung Franz Josef Jung (born 5 March 1949) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He became Federal Minister of Defence in the Grand coalition cabinet of Angela Merkel on 22 November 2005. In October 2009 he became Ministe ...

and . She fundraised and lobbied for donations leading to the opening of an orphanage in Kabul. During her sixth and final deployment, on May 28, 2011, Alekozei, a

oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

, served as an interpreter between local politicians and German

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

officers at a security conference in

Taloqan Taloqan ( Persian, also transcribed Taleqan or Taluqan) is the capital of Takhar Province, in northeastern Afghanistan. It is located in the Taluqan District. The population was estimated as 196,400 in 2006. In 2021, the Taliban gained contro ...

. During the conference, Alekozei was injured in an

attack that killed 16 fellow soldiers. She had 34 surgical operations after the event. In 2014, she published a memoir about her experiences:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alekozei, Soraya 1955 births Living people People from Kabul Interpreters 21st-century translators German military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Female military personnel 21st-century Afghan women writers German memoirists 21st-century German women writers Women memoirists Afghan emigrants to Germany