Soraya Alekozei (born 1955) is an Afghan-German

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

and

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

who was deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

six times between 2004 and 2011 as a reserve officer in the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

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

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

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 warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

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

Early life

Alekozei was born in

Kabul Kabul 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

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 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 took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

Career

Alekozei worked at

Deutsche Postbank Postbank (; full name: Postbank – eine Niederlassung der Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, ) is a branch of Deutsche Bank for retail banking, which was formed from the demerger of the postal savings division of Deutsche Bundespost in 1990. Si ...

. 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 Minister ...

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 (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

, served as an interpreter between local politicians and German

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

officers at a security conference in

Taloqan Taloqan (, 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 control of ...

. 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 Military personnel from Kabul Interpreters 21st-century translators German military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Afghan female military personnel 21st-century Afghan women writers German memoirists 21st-century German women writers German women memoirists Afghan emigrants to Germany Afghan memoirists Afghan women memoirists