The International Cafe event on 27 April 2024 attracted an audience of 22. Peter Valenta, this month’s speaker, told us about his exciting life which he illustrated with a power-point presentation. Additionally, at relevant point he expanded his story with excerpts from his autobiography, making his experiences especially vivid.
Peter saw the light of day in 1954 in a place steeped in history - Mauthausen, in Upper Austria. Between 1938 and 1945 this municipality was home to the largest Nazi concentration camp in Austria, giving Mauthausen international notoriety.
As his life story unfolded, the listeners learned that the local historical burden has also accompanied Peter personally, in the way of feelings of guilt after a traumatic episode involving sibling rivalry in his childhood.
Peter was raised as the fourth of six children in the Valenta family, in humble conditions in a railway signalman’s house. He was interested in technology from an early age and had already decided on a career as a radio and television technician as a six-year-old! However, soon after his training he realised that, due to the rapid development of technology in that field, this was a dying trade and early on reorientated himself towards other technical professions.
A work colleague introduced Peter to the Unification Church, now the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and he joined the movement in 1978. In 1982 he received the marriage blessing from the founding couple, Rev. und Mrs. Moon, with his Scottish wife Catriona, with whom he now lives in Langgöns, near Giessen, Germany. The couple have three adult children.
Peter and his wife are keen travellers – not only to their respective homelands of Austria and Scotland and other European countries, but also further afield such as to the Far and Middle East and North America. In 2008 Peter made an extraordinary trip to Egypt, where he participated in a special workshop for men in the Sinai Peninsula. Here he encountered extreme situations, for example being alone in the high mountain desert with only God and nature, an experience which brought for him liberation and healing.
For those who wish to learn more about Peter and dabble in his world, his publication to date are:
His autobiography The Courage to be Myself and Utopian Belief and Plausibility are available in English.
https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1054457570
https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1066859564
The most recent book was published on 02.05.2024.
Report: Brigitte Makkonen. English: Catriona Valenta