Zivildienst
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Zivildienst (German, translated verbatim to "Civilian Service" although "compulsory paid community service" is more contextually equivalent) is the civilian branch of the national service systems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is a means for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors to fulfill their national service typically in the field of social works (e.g. hospitals, retirement homes, emergency medical services), and sometimes, although rare, in the field of environmental protection, agriculture, and public administration.
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[edit] Zivildienst in Germany
Zivildienst is the primary form (by the number of serviceperson) of substitution for the conscription in the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr. Drafted persons must file a petition along with an essay describing the reasons, in order to become recognized as an objector. The "recognized objector" (anerkannter Kriegsdienstverweigerer) can then either negotiate for an accredited service institution himself, or be assigned an institution.
Since created in 1.10.1973 the Bundesamt für den Zivildienst (BAZ) (Fedaral Office for civilian service) is charge for the petitions, the recognized objectors and the accreditation of the institions (and more) by law (mainly Zivildienstgesetz ZDG).
Currently, the German Zivildienst has, like the Wehrdienst, a service duration of nine months.
It is interesting to note that currently more young men choose to do the Zivildienst rather than serve in the armed forces, thus the Wehrdienst (Military Service) becoming the (factual) substitute.
[edit] Zivildienst in Austria
Up until 1975 there was no alternative to the compulsory military service in Austria. To prevent people serving community service instead of military serivce the conservatives introduced a committee which had a hearing with every man wanting to serve community service. The only accepted reason for one not wanting to perform military service was pacificsm. In an effort to guide the applicants to the miliatry service questions like the following were asked: "Going for a walk in the woods, a stranger appears and rapes your girlfriend. How do you react?". Depending on ones reaction they had several options of refusing the application to serve community service.
Simply asserting that one was a pacifist was not enough. One had to thoroughly and rationally explain that one had weighed every argument (on the topic of violence) and the result being pacifism. Immaturity or naivety could be grounds for declining the application. One's criminal record had to be impeccable.
Should one pass this ordeal one had to serve for 10 months, vis-à-vis 8 months for the military service. Further having done community service instead of military service one was not allowed to join the police force seeing as this would contradict one's claims of being a pacifist. The ammendment of 1991 ruled, that individuals serving community service were prohibited from owning any weapon for 20 years after the community service, disbanded the committee and simplified the process individuals had to go through to serve community service.
The ammendment of 1997 introduced a holiday entitlement of 2 weeks for everybody serving community service, and extended the duration one had to serve to 12 months.
A recent ammendment of 2005 reduced the duration of the military and community service to 6 and 8 months respectivly. Currently the applicant can chose one of several organisations (mainly NGOs) at which he wants to serve.[1]
Most popular choices are serving at one of several emergency medical services (usually serving as a paramedic) and nursing homes. Other options include serving at hospitals, charity organisations or in several ministries.
[edit] Zivildienst in Switzerland
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Bundesamt für Zivildienst (German federal Zivildienst agency, in German)
- Zivildienstserviceagentur (Austrian Zivildienst administrator, in German)
- Alles über den Zivildienst (Impartial Source for current as well as prospecitve men serving community service, in German)
- Swiss Civilian Service (in German, French, and Italian)
- german alternative service place assessment

