Von wegen “Schicksal”

“Besides, this is bullshit anyway!” After twenty years of marriage, Irene Rakowitz divorces her husband who lives a few floors down. She fights for self-determination and hurls at her daughter: “We raise kids, we run a huge household, we serve the man. For nothing! And when we’re divorced, then it’s zilch, nothing! When I work as a housemaid, I’m doing the same work. Here, I am a housemaid for nothing!” Helga Reidemeister, who worked as a social worker on site at Märkisches Viertel, is involved with the difficult search for independence. Mostly standing in solidarity to Irene, she is, however, sometimes also antagonistic to her. The question that remains outstanding: “Okay, I got divorced, I have my freedom. So what can I do with it now?”