Ich würde mich als eine in Deutschland aufgewachsene Jüdin, aber auch Russin bezeichnen. Meine Großeltern haben ihre Wurzeln in der Ukraine. Sie mussten aufgrund des Holodomor 11Holodomor– vom ukrainischen Голодомо́р (Tot durch Hunger) – beschreibt eine durch die Sowjetunion herbeigeführte Hungersnot. Zwischen 1932 und 1933 starben zehn Prozent der Bevölkerung in der Ukraine. Durch eine gesteuerte Lebensmittelknappheit versuchte Joseph Stalin die Unabhängigkeitsbewegung der Ukraine so zu vernichten. Seit 2006 trauert die ukrainische Bevölkerung am vierten Samstag jeden Novembers um die Opfer des als Völkermordes klassifizierten Holodomor. nach Zentralasien fliehen. Meiner Mutter wurde so in Tadschikistan und mein Vater in Usbekistan geboren. In der Sowjetunion waren wir aber immer Juden. Auf unseren Pässen stand nicht Usbeke, Tadschike oder Russe, sondern Jude. Nach dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion befürchteten meine Eltern im mehrheitlich muslimischen Usbekistan einen sich verfestigen Antisemitismus. Also gab es eine große Auswanderungswelle von Juden und Jüdinnen. Viele meiner Verwandten sind nach Israel oder den USA migriert. Für die USA war es für uns zu spät, also entschieden wir uns für Deutschland, weil Israel zu dem Zeitpunkt immer noch im Aufbau war. Meine Eltern sahen in Deutschland bessere Chancen für uns Kinder was Zugang zu Bildung angeht aber auch aufgrund der gesundheitlichen Versorgung unserer Großeltern. Also im Endeffekt kann ich sagen, dass meine Eltern das sehr für uns Kinder gemacht haben. Weil mein Vater hatte in Usbekistan eine Baufirma und meine Mutter hatte ein Uni-Diplom. Hier in Deutschland ist das rote Diplom 22Die Bildungsabschlüsse in der ehemaligen Sowjetunion – in Deutschland als rote Diplome fremdbezeichnet – wurden nicht von der Bundesrepublik Deutschland anerkannt. Folglich arbeiteten viele Migrant*innen aus den Nachfolgestaaten im deutschen Niedriglohnsektor. Frauen häufig als undokumentierte Reinigungskräfte und Männer im Baugewerbe. nichts wert, weswegen sie hier putzen ging, damit wir Kinder aufsteigen konnten. Ich finde das heute sehr mutig und habe den größten Respekt und die tiefste Dankbarkeit.
I would describe myself as a Jew raised in Germany, but also as a Russian. My grandparents were from Ukraine. They had to leave due to the Holodomor 11Holodomor– from the Ukrainian Голодомо́р (death trough starvation) – describes a famine organized by the Soviet Union. Between 1932 and 1933, approximately ten percent of the population in Ukraine died by starvation. Through the famine, Joseph Stalin aimed to dismantle the Ukrainian independence movement. Since 2006, the people of Ukraine mourn the victims of the Holodomor on every fourth Saturday of November. The Holodomor has been classified as genoicde by Ukraine. and settled in Central Asia. My mother was born in Tajikistan and my father in Uzbekistan. But in the former Soviet Union, we have been Jews. Our passports did not declare us as Uzbeks, Tadjiks or Russians, but as Jews. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, my parents feared the rise of antisemitism in an Uzbekistan with a Muslim majority. As a result, more and more Jews immigrated to Israel, the United States of Amerika, and Germany. Some of my relatives live in Israel and the USA. But in our case, it was too late for the USA and Israel was still developing. Therefore, my parents saw Germany as the best opportunity for a better live. Access for us children in free education, but also health care for my grandparents. From a retro-perspective, I realize that my parents immigrated for us children. My father had a company in Uzbekistan and my mother graduated. But here in Germany, the red diploma 22Diplomas from the former Soviet Union were not recognized by Germany. Therefore, many immigrants from the former Soviet Union worked as undocumented domestic workers and in the informal sector. is worth nothing. My mother cleaned floors so that we children had the opportunity to rise. I think it was very brave and they have my greatest respect and deepest gratitude.
Alexandra Sadownik 11Surname changed. was born in 1993 in Uzbekistan. After the reunification of Germany, the Central Council of Jews in Germany and Eastern German politicians worked on a immigration program for Jews in the former states of the Soviet Union. This was initiated due to the decreasing number of Jews living in post-Shoa Germany. With the offer of resettlement, Germany aimed to end the reconciliation. Since the 1990, approximately 200.000 Jews and their family members immigrated from successor states of the Soviet Union to Germany. Today, they define 90 percent of the Jewish population in Germany. Alexandra and her family migrated in 1998 to Germany as so called jüdische Kontingentflüchtlinge (Jewish Quota Refugees). They lived in a immigration shelter with other migrants from the former Soviet Union in Kiel for some years.
Today, Alexandra trains to become a German language teacher. Since many years, she is engaged in youth and student organization as scholarship holder from the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung.
In this interview, Alexandra describes her experiences growing up in Germany as a Jew from the Soviet Union. She tells her story about her first years in Germany in the shelter, her time in school and elaborates what home means to her.
The interview was conducted, analyzed and translated by Daniel Heinz on March the 26th in 2021 via zoom. The original interview was conducted in German and Russian. Daniel translated the interview in English. Daniel and Alexandra were introduced to each other during a youth project from the embassy of the state of Israel in Berlin. They both have a common migration history from the successor states of the former Soviet Union to Germany in the 1990s.
Under the supervision of Prof. Schirin Amir-Moazami, students in the seminar “Narratives of Refugees in the Light of Border Regime Studies” (winter term 2020/21) worked on critical methods of qualitative social research as well as literary and scientific texts on the topic of border regimes.
Border regime studies primarily focus on the political, economic and legal conditions that produce migration and borders as social phenomena in the first place.
In cooperation with the We Refugees Archive, the seminar participants conducted interviews with refugees about their everyday experiences in Germany or wrote articles on the common topics of the seminar and the archive.
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