Physicians who issued mask exemptions did not do so lightly – they did so because their patients were suffering. The following letters show what these medical certificates meant for the affected families: relief, dignity and a piece of normality in a time that threatened to take all of that away.
The letters have been anonymized.
You have no idea what a weight has just fallen from my heart. My son burst into tears of joy.
A thirteen-year-old daughter who – when she heard that an exemption might be possible for her – cried with joy or relief. She had suffered so much under the mask.
Joel had never worn a mask. For the exemption, the family ran a wearing test – just 30 minutes of maths homework with a mask on:
»Joel could hardly see through the mask. After the 30 minutes he had moderate headaches and felt slightly dizzy. He was limp and tired, couldn’t think properly – like a knot in his head, he said. He hardly made any progress on the questions. Maths is his favourite subject and usually comes very easily to him. The joy he normally feels when solving maths problems was gone.«
Lea did homework with a mask on for about 45 minutes:
»She was completely worn out afterwards – I have never seen my daughter like that. She is only this drained and dejected when she is ill. She complained of moderate to severe headaches, balance problems, difficulty concentrating and wobbly legs.«
Perhaps I am the only educator in A. whose face the children can see – always and at any time. And because I am the head, I can tell colleagues, trainees and parents: thanks to me, anyone can take their mask off in our day-care. And many are relieved. Your work has helped so many.
S. lives in the centre of Frankfurt, in an area with a mask mandate even outdoors. He used his certificate diligently – by then everyone knew him, including the police officers who patrolled there regularly.
One day an indignant lawyer accosted him for not wearing a mask. The man threatened to call the police and claimed that S.‘s certificate was not genuine.
The lawyer actually went to the police – and came back with the officers to S. But they were exactly the same officers who already knew S. The matter was quickly settled: everything in order.
The lawyer got so angry that he tore his own mask off in order to shout at S. properly. The officers simply said: »That’s not how it works. That will cost you 50 euros.« – And the lawyer had to pay.
»In November we travelled to Crete and did not wear a mask the whole way. The stations were: taxi, train, Frankfurt airport, plane, Heraklion airport, car rental, LIDL.
Among hundreds of people at the airport, many of whom queued at the COVID test centre, we were the only ones unmasked – fair game for several checks by the federal police. Our certificates held up every time.
For the Greek plane we had English-language certificates, which caused considerable fuss on board. The matter was discussed in the cockpit. The decision was to print new boarding passes for us with socially distanced seats. So we were treated like lepers, but luckily only inside the plane, not outside it.«
It all started with a small certificate – and what came out of it were independently thinking children and parents who fight off everything in their way like lions. We as a family have never taken a single test. The children no longer go to school and have discovered free learning for themselves. We carry on the fight – for our children, for doctors like you.
Our daughter Sabine has an intellectual disability and a highly sensitive, anxious disposition. She has panic attacks the moment she has to wear a mask. As a result, we could no longer take her to some of the medical treatments and therapies she needed. Her general practitioner refused to issue a mask exemption – he was of the opinion that a Corona infection would be worse than her anxiety attacks.
Your certificate truly gave back freedom, again and again. Including on our summer holiday, where we were allowed to be the only guests in the hotel without masks. The hotel management accepted it, even though other guests were hostile towards us. Your certificate, in my case, was never questioned when I presented it.
I want to thank you once again for the two years of freedom you gave us with your mask certificates. Unforgettable, alongside countless mask-free shopping trips, is one demonstration in Frankfurt where I was stopped by the police at least twenty times and had to show the certificate. The main argument every time was that I had to explain that one reads with the eyes, not with the hands.
»You gave us precious time in our lives – while the rest of the world surrendered to madmen. We will NEVER forget that.«
»I will be forever grateful for the certificate you issued for me. I still keep it in my wallet. You never know when they will plan another pandemic like this…«
Günther Riedl, paediatrician from Uelzen, issued the mask exemptions for which these letters of thanks were sent to him. For doing so, he was prosecuted under criminal law.