Ukrainian refugees seek clothing to clothe the dead

 It's the kids who stand out first. Screaming and laughing, they run to Berlin-Tegel terminal C. The colorful lights on a girl's shoe tray are lit at every step. One guy takes a walk in a tight scooter, another tries to jump onto a truck with a pair of wallets used by two men in overalls to transport boxes. As alive as children are, the adults in the former airport seem so silent. Some sit next to the plugs and watch cell phones. Others have found a place on one of the long wooden tables and eat. Those who seem to have just arrived and waited for the recording in their hands are even more silent.

A sailor's bed between partition walls

An initial reception centre for asylum seekers and war refugees from Ukraine has been established in the former Berlin airport. We have 600 places for asylum seekers and here at C 1600 additional seats for Ukrainians, but now they are mostly busy,” says Detlef Cwojdzinski of the German Red Cross (DRK), which runs the waiting centre. “The situation is difficult, because we now have to accommodate people in large tents. ”

Two of the temporary accommodations for 400 people each are off the track. Thunderous generators blow warm air through the thick intestines inside white tents. Inside it is even closer than in the terminal living area, but the structure is the same: white and gray walls share the spaces in which the sailors are lined up next to each other. “DRUK.

Welcome Pets

Charity organizations do much to make it easier for refugees to stay in mass shelter. There are many contacts, translators, medical and psychological careers, three meals a day, a clothing store, and educators for children. “Every day some 40 dogs, cats and other domestic animals arrive here,” says employee of DRK Detlef Cwojdzinski. “We also need to take care of them”

In fact, staying at the initial waiting station should be limited to one to three days. But now it's eight days and more. More than 3,000 war refugees and asylum seekers are currently waiting at the two arrival centers in Berlin to be transferred to regular housing. Growing trend.

Free apartments do not have

Integration Senator in Berlin Katja Kipping issued the alarm shortly ago. In a letter she wrote that there are no “seats sufficient for accommodate”. As an emergency solution, 10,000 extra tents will be created by the end of the year. And the floor of Tegel.

Berlin is one of the cities in Germany that has hosted a particularly large number of war refugees. 85,000 are currently registered. However, most Ukrainians have found private housing and only 3,000 have sought assistance at the Land Office for Refugees Issues (LAF). LAF leaders are happy with this hospitality of the berglines, even though more and more refugees are reporting to waiting centers that they want to no longer be a burden to their private hosts.

In two weeks it was eight months.

Anna Bobrakova and her two sons also lived privately for a long time. They are from Donbas, but in 2014, when the war broke out, they had gone to Kiev. Eight years later the war seized them again and they left for the second time. At the main station of the Berlin train, they accepted an offer from German assistants to live in their home temporarily.

They lived in the family living room for eight months. We are very grateful, but it was time to go”, says Anna. “Although we were all very sad and we cried when we left.” Ukrainian now lives with her sons in a rented hotel room from Landy, Berlin. But that's where she feels lonely and it's not easy. There is still a need for help in language, everyday life, and communication with authorities.

Committed Churches

Anna finds that help in the Marcus Gospel congregation in Berlin. The family has been involved in aid to refugees since the outbreak of war and has made sleeping places available to up to a hundred people. In the church hall, there are camping beds, a closet, clothing donations, and food collections in several storage rooms, while cooking can be made in three kitchens.

Ukrainian Victoria Chumak lived in Marcus ' congregation for six months. A time in which she too always hoped to be able to return soon to her hometown of southern Odessa. She wanted to leave Ukraine herself fourth, but at the border her 20-year-old daughter said she did not want to leave her country. I had to choose between my 14-year-old son and my mother, who is with limited serious abilities, and my daughter”, says Victoria, with an expression of agony on her face.

Fear is a constant companion

Every day she's afraid of the girl. There are better and worse days. Today is a bad day, because there have been a lot of rocket attacks in Ukraine again,” says 41-year-old tear in the eye. Victoria still hopes that her daughter will come to Berlin. While her son feels so well in Germany that he would like to stay here forever, neither does her 72-year-old mother want to return to her war-torn country.

That's also because all three have already found a home. This is an absolute exception, says Alexander Weber, who cares for refugees in the Marcus community. This is the only social residence we could offer since the outbreak of war.

Evidence Against Kremlin Narrators

Weber has been there as a helper since the beginning. The 37-year-old science editor was born in the Soviet Union and has lived in Germany since 1990. “Being Russian with background, I feel especially moved and I want to prove that what the Kremlin says is not true”, he explains. So does Weber's wife, Victoria Abakumowski. I feel like I'm gonna have my ceiling on my head”, she says. I'd rather be here, giving German lessons, listening to our guests, holding hands and crying with them.

Those leaving Ukraine bring with them traumatic experiences. The Marcus Congregation tries to come to the aid of conversation so that they can process the many terrible experiences. It's not easy for volunteers either. We talk a lot to each other here”, says Alexander Weber.

Clothing Even for the Dead

But sometimes the horror is too great. There once came a woman who seemed to be very sad. It was very pale and did not want to speak first,” says Weber. We discovered that she was going to Ukraine and wanted to get clothes for four people from our closet. ”

When asked whether it was men or women and sizes, the Ukrainian repeatedly answered in a monotonous way that it was not important. Finally, according to Weber, it turned out that the woman's four-member family was shot by the Russians and found naked in a mass grave. The woman was on her way to Ukraine to wear and bury the bodies. / DW