Wuerzburg. They come from the war-torn areas of Ukraine, from Kharkiv, from the south and from the east of the country and had only one reason to flee: to bring the children to safety.
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Eight Ukrainian women, who met for the first time in the emergency shelter in the Kürnachtalhalle, now live in a women’s shared flat in downtown Würzburg. “It’s strange to be on the road in Germany. Every airplane scares and church bells irritate,” reports Alona. March 16, of all times, was the day they entered the country when all the church bells in Würzburg rang for 20 minutes to commemorate the approximately 3,500 dead and the almost complete destruction of the city in World War II.
But the history of Würzburg also encourages the women from Ukraine “for the reconstruction of our cities.” The common experience of war, whether in the past or the present, brings the Würzburg and Ukrainians together. “People are very open and greet us with a smile,” reports Olesya. “At a bus stop, a family who came to Germany from the Ukraine 30 years ago approached me, that was a nice moment.”
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Lots of cyclists
Olesya fled because of Konstantyn and Sviatoslav, her sons. The older one already goes to a school in Würzburg. Konstantyn thinks “white sausage” is really good here, as is Würzburg’s architecture. The only thing that everyone finds somehow strange is that the Germans are so loud when watching football – as well as the narrow data protection rules. The many cyclists in the city are also unusual for the bright high school student Lidia, who is here with her mother and sister. The older children in particular seem to be gaining a foothold in Würzburg. However, they are all highly motivated to learn German quickly, “and they are very active,” says translator Yana, who herself comes from the Ukraine and is studying in Würzburg. “They keep asking how and where do we have to do something, where do we register, where are there German courses, where are integration courses, when can we take part?” Tatjana, a chemist, was able to start work at a company that produces laser technology.
Dare to experiment
“Both the eight children and the women got along very well in the Kürnachtalhalle and they just go well together,” Heike Mix noticed very quickly. The social worker was the municipal contact person for those who had arrived in the emergency accommodation and continues to accompany them. “We were able to dare the flat share experiment with them,” adds Christine Blum-Köhler. “We definitely didn’t want to separate them because they support each other,” explains the city’s integration officer. The eight women support each other, take turns supervising the children, have to deal with the same problems, have the same horizon, laugh together and enjoy the evening highlight, when the children are in bed, sitting together: “It’s good not to be alone” , says one of the women.
They have moved into the former Elisabethen children’s home, the rooms are ideal for sharing. “It was a stroke of luck that facility manager Simon Kuttenkeuler offered us the empty wing. We are grateful for his dedicated and heartfelt help and especially that of his wife Elke,” says Christine Blum-Köhler. The rooms are large, they offer separate rooms and retreats for each mother with child, a kitchen and common areas, warmly furnished and equipped with everything you need for life. If something is missing, Elke Kuttenkeuler takes care of it within a very short time. She brought presents at Easter, baked birthday cakes and made sure that the women and children felt a little bit at home.
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The Ukrainians have repeatedly expressed their gratitude for this. Women and children feel they are in good hands, but their biggest wish is for the war to end and for them to return home to the men and fathers “who defend the country and literally the home,” Yana translates. “We live a different reality here than the reality of the war in which our men live,” says Tatjana. And one or the other clearly says that it’s not easy to talk about it: “It’s also hard to be here.” cl
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