Armando is 7 years old. He fled from Kosovo to Germany.

“I panited the picture because I like football very much.”

Storyteller’s name: Armando
Country of origin: Kosovo
Sex: m
Age: 7

My whole family lives in Kosovo, it is my home. We lived a beautiful life, unfortunately there is no work. Many people suffer from it. I lived with my husband’s family, my husband provided for the whole family with his salary. I have been married for nine years, we want children and hope that people in Germany can tell us why it has not worked out until today. I was always a family man, so the separation was incredibly difficult for me. Since the death of my mother 15 years ago, I took her part. I took care of the family, it still hurts me today to be far away from them. My father is suffering from kidney disease, every time my family calls me I am afraid that something has happened to him. I often think about going back to him, but I don’t have the money. It hurts me.

My husband has lived in Germany since the beginning of the Kosovo War. He was an asylum seeker here, was not allowed to work. He was deported, he asked the authorities why he was never allowed to work. He never got an answer. My husband would like to earn money, but he is not allowed to. Now he wants to work again, he has made a new asylum application. He has not yet received an answer. The authorities tell us that the Balkans have the least chance of staying here. The first ones are from the war zones. That makes me very sad. I want to learn the language and my husband wants to be able to work here. I wish to visit my family. My biggest wish is to have a child.

I feel good after I telling my story, the atmosphere was very pleasant.

Storyteller’s name:  Merita Krasniqi
Interviewer’s name: Sarah El Desoke and Dafina Sinani
Country of origin: Kosovo
Sex: f
Age: 37

I have the opinion that the right of asylum is based on a personal basis. They ask about one’ s personal fate and decide accordingly. I’m sorry to start, no, I’m not really sorry at all. I personally am ill and my children and my wife are traumatized.

There were several massacres during the war. In one of these places, in Studime, 118 people had vanished into mass graves. I was there at the excavation. We bought houses in this part of the village after the war. Houses of people who no longer wanted to live in Kosova. They were Serbian families who didn’t want to stay. A Serb, from whom I bought the house, is now accused of war crimes by the inhabitants, by several people. He does not live in Kosova, but because I bought his house, I am now under the suspicion that I was a follower of the war criminal on the reason, how else could a Serb have sold me a house.

When it comes to patriotism, it’s a big word everywhere nowadays. I believe I have already demonstrated my patriotism by returning. Vushtri is a place between Pristina and Mitrovica, the border is the river. After the war I actually helped Serbs, who lived there and who decided to live in Kosova, that they got their papers, that they are registered for the pension etc. The situation in Mitrovica has intensified, the city is the center of attention. Meanwhile, my compatriots, the Albanians, have become very strict towards those who have helped Serbs in some way. People like me are now not only traitors to the people, but have been given the worst names. Everything I tell you, I have evidence, documentation.

I just sent my daughter out for a reason. But the whole story is not perceived in Germany. I am convinced that as long as the world exists, it is so that a nation needs the neighbouring nation. I am aware that I belong to a small nation that in its history, although it has suffered a lot, has always been very friendly with other people. For example, during the Second World War my people saved German soldiers, but also provided great help to Jewish families, hid them or made it possible for them to leave Europe by means of passports. And I belong to such a family. After the Second World War my family almost perished because of the help they gave to Jews. I am aware that I come from such a family and I did nothing else: I helped Serbs in Kosova.

Less than a month ago, in a so-called safe country, a group of Gülenists was transported to Turkey to Mr. Erdogan because they were on a list. This happens because the government in Kosova violates all human rights. The whole of Europe has protested. People were handed over to a dictator. This is a kidnapping, this is a demonstration of power by the government and this is also a very open, outrageous sign to us Kosovars, which means, look, we can do this with you too. For 3 1/2 years I have been living in a room measuring 2 x 2 metres. And at home I had to leave two fully furnished houses. You think I do this for fun? If it becomes necessary and I have to leave Germany, I will not do it voluntarily, but if I have to go, then maybe I will also go to Calcutta, but not to Kosova. I have been living in this small room for three years, I have a traumatized wife and traumatized children. But I don’t want to go back to a place where my personal safety is in question. Because then the three will have much less than they do now.

I hope that Germany and German institutions will understand our history. They know the political situation in Kosova, they also know the people who rule there. I do not claim that people who come here do not sometimes exaggerate their reasons for leaving home. But I would like to appeal to those who hear the stories that they have an open ear. It could be that what everyone’s saying is true. I tell you frankly and honestly, when I decided to go to war, I knew I could lose my life. But I wasn’t afraid then. I wanted to help those who were there and my whole family there. I also did it with the hope that evil, war, would stop and that the people who have suffered for years would finally have a chance to live on in a free country. I never expected it, especially not because I knew that we were helped a lot by the West during the war, that in Kosova an underground mafia, a criminal layer would take over the government of the country. And it is this very government that scares me today, sitting here. I am convinced that at the moment the state of Kosova is a private state.

It will be a while before we can eliminate these criminals, the communism that currently prevails there. We are tired of suffering, of politics in which we can no longer believe. For many years the Serbian soldiers and the Serbian state have killed Albanians. There was shooting and it was heard. The state has always opposed the West with a reason. He said it was just manoeuvres. And the West believed it for years. There were people who were brought back from Germany to Kosova in the 90s on the assumption that we have an agreement with Serbia. These people are no longer alive. At that time it was also said that Serbia was a safe country. We have suffered the times, we know the stories. I’ve had eight surgeries in eight years, several tumors. Studies have shown that a large amount of uranium is the cause of these diseases. I’m going to finish slowly. Once again, I insist that my story is told anonymously. I have respect for the lady who writes and listens. I think I was clear enough for people who want to understand. And right now I have no need to say or explain any more.

Storyteller’s name: Anonymous
Interviewer’s name: Sarah Dudek and Violeta Peshku
Country of origin: Kosovo
Sex: m
Age: 53

Svenska: Jag heter Leonora, jag kommer från Kosovo. Det är mycket positivt här i Sverige. Människorna här pratar mycket lugnt och vänligt. Böcker är människans bästa vän. Böcker är kunskap.

A Million Stories Sweden: Nizar Keblawi, Nina Olsson, Sara Sarabi, Malin Gillberg, Daniel Björklund, Mats Nordström.

A Million Stories Sweden volunteers: Fariborz Ghadir, Mohamad Mohsin, Yazan Saad, Tarek Aloudallah, Dalia Saleem, Yara Ali, Ahmad Younes, Chaimae Hamri.

In association with

Merisa is 11 years old. She fled from Kosovo to Germany.

Storyteller’s name: Merisa
Data and project management: Monika Wächter
Country of origin: Kosovo
Sex: f
Age: 11

This drawing is part of the exhibition “Hope Courage Trust. Drawings of fled children”. The group is supervised by volunteers from the Catholic parish of St. Johannes XXXIII in Cologne. The children live in a refugee camp of the German Red Cross in Cologne.

Deutsch:
Merisa ist elf Jahre alt. Sie floh aus dem Kosovo nach Deutschland.

Name des Storytellers: Merisa
Daten und Projektleitung: Monika Wächter
Herkunftsland des Storytellers: Kosovo
Geschlecht des Storytellers: weiblich
Alter des Storytellers: 11 Jahre

Dieses Bild ist im Rahmen der Ausstellung „Hoffnung Mut Vertrauen. Malereien von geflüchteten Kindern“ entstanden. Die Gruppe wird von ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeiterinnen der Kath. Kirchengemeinde Hl. Johannes XXXIII in Köln betreut. Die Kinder kommen aus einem Wohnheim des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes in Köln.