(Minghui.org) To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts to end the persecution in China, practitioners from Germany’s Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region held activities to raise awareness on the popular Hauptstrasse street in Heidelberg on July 13, 2024. They demonstrated the exercises, collected signatures, shared information about Falun Gong, and called for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ongoing persecution.

Practitioners held activities to introduce Falun Gong and raise awareness of the persecution during a day-long event in Heidelberg in southwest Germany on July 13, 2024.

The Hauptstrasse (“Main Street”) is Heidelberg’s central street that is 1.8-kilometers-long (1.1 miles) and one of the oldest and longest pedestrian zones in Europe. It is a popular shopping area and features various historic landmarks.

Practitioner events that day attracted a number of people who learned about Falun Gong, watched the exercise demonstration, and signed the petition.

People learn about Falun Gong and the CCP’s persecution.

People sign the petition to support practitioners’ efforts to expose the persecution.

Company Owner: “Falun Gong’s Principles are Very Wise”

Monicá Oliveira agreed with Falun Gong’s principles.

Monicá Oliveira, a native of Brazil, has resided in Germany for a long time and owns an employment agency and a language training agency. She watched the exercise demonstration and read the posters illustrating the persecution and various means of torture. She then signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution.

She also learned that Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are Falun Gong’s core values. “I understand that compassion is the foundation of everything. It is the soul. Without compassion, you cannot achieve tolerance,” she said.

“When people obtain spiritual elevation through cultivating (Falun Gong), from that moment, they are no longer controlled by it (the CCP). It (the CCP) would then suppress it.

“A nation’s regime should not control people’s thoughts. I think Falun Gong’s principles are very wise. It should be legal to practice Falun Gong in China,” Ms. Oliveira said.

“Must Unite and Stop This Kind of Cruel Killing Together”

Keller lives in Heidelberg and taught preschool before retiring.

“It is so cruel to extract organs from the living bodies of these people. It reminds me of how Fascists murdered Jews during World War II. My mother worked at a Nazi concentration camp, and she told me about some things that happened there. They were truly scary,” she said.

“I never thought that things like this would be taking place in today’s 21st century. I heard that the persecution has continued for 25 years. All of us and our government must unite and stop this kind of cruel killing.

“A practitioner told me that practicing Falun Gong could resolve diseases without treatment. When people are sick, they of course have to take medication and have injections. Like for myself, my back often feels pain and I need physiotherapy. This is the first time I heard that people can obtain a healthy body through their own way (cultivation). So magical.

“This practice looks very peaceful and gentle. I want to try it too,” Keller said. She wrote down the location and time of the exercise sites in Heidelberg and Manheim, and said that she would go and personally experience Falun Gong.

“Germany Should Also Speak up for Defending Human Rights”

Marc Jung signed the petition and voiced his support.

Marc Jung, who works in the education field, read the flyer distributed by practitioners. He said it made him feel very sad, “It’s unfortunate that there’s still oppression in China. I just signed the petition (against forced organ harvesting), because no one should be living under these kind of conditions,” he said.

“I think a country with strength like Germany should also speak up and defend human rights,” Mr. Jung said.

“We Absolutely Support You”

A group of boys stopped by and spoke with the practitioners. One said, “I’m a high school student and I’m 16 years old this year, so unfortunately not an adult yet. It’s regrettable that I can’t sign (the petition) today. But we absolutely support you.”

Before the event concluded in the evening, a couple riding bikes stopped by and signed the petition.