Old walls, new thoughts

My name is Omar Al-Matroud, I was born on 11.08.1995 in Syria, Damascus. Up to my twentieth life I lived in a place called Yarmuk. The war forced me to leave my homeland. I had everything a person needs to live. My family belongs to the middle class, like most people from Syria. We are five brothers and sisters, all academics except me. I could not finish my studies because of the war. When I was 17, I worked voluntarily for the first time, then I looked for groups in which I could work voluntarily. I wanted to help other people. Continue reading “Old walls, new thoughts”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, syria, germany

I want to use my abilities

I am 23 years old. I studied banking in Syria. In the 2nd semester I dropped out, I did not finish. I studied during the war. I come from Homs, from Al-Rastan. There were a lot of soldiers in my town. They freed themselves from the army and founded the Free Army. That’s why we were a red rag for the regime. I have always had a lot of problems with the city on my ID card. There were many explosions, bombs. I could no longer live there. That is why we moved to another city, to Damascus. Also this place was bombed, grenades, rockets from above. When we were still in my homeland, my older uncle was killed, he was hit in the head. Continue reading “I want to use my abilities”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, syria, germany

The only country that has given me so much

My country is the most beautiful country in the world. In the past, but no more today. I come from Syria. People back then had very beautiful thoughts, but through the spread of death, through war, people’s thoughts changed completely. We welcomed every person who passed by our houses without even knowing who they were. Our doors were open to everyone. But today, when poverty is spreading, people are hiding from themselves. For when they see someone, they no longer say “Come in” to him because they no longer have anything to offer him. Continue reading “The only country that has given me so much”

Dublin Core: Language: de Subject: refugees, asylum, a million stories, syria, germany

Every time they change a rule it just gets worse and worse

Young woman, from Syria.

I have been in Denmark since October 2015. I arrived with my parents and brothers and a sister in bus from Germany, and first we went to Sandholm and after that to Sønderborg where we lived for 1 year and I went to language school. Continue reading “Every time they change a rule it just gets worse and worse”

Dublin Core: Language: en Subject: a million stories, denmark, syria, refugee,

We would really like to go and see our grandchild

Woman, from Syria.

I had a good life before the war broke out. I was making a living by sewing pearls on textiles and clothing and I liked it a lot, but when I got married there was no longer a need for me to do it,  and later my time was consumed by taking care of my children. We had bought an apartment on the second store in the city where we lived, but when the war broke out we moved outside the city to the countryside where we rented a house. The house was surrounded by a beautiful landscape with grass, flowers, fruit trees, sheep and a river, and it just felt very peaceful. Continue reading “We would really like to go and see our grandchild”

Dublin Core: Language: en Subject: a million stories, denmark, syria, refugee,

My girlfriend was killed in 2011 by shrapnel

Khaldoun, 30 years old, from Damascus, Syria.

Before the war I lived in Damascus and for 7 years I had a girlfriend who was studying fine arts at the University, and she was so good at drawing and would draw me many times over the years.   She was also a skilled stonemason and would make sculptures that imitated human beings. I was a student of psychology at the time, and so we met in Damascus on the streets first and later we had coffee, smoked water pipe and talked and talked; she was open-minded and such a free spirit. Continue reading “My girlfriend was killed in 2011 by shrapnel”

Dublin Core: Language: en Subject: a million stories, denmark, damascus, syria, refugee,