Open and closed doors.

by AnnaS

The last couple of months changed my perspective on the hole „refugee-subject“ deeply because I became personally involved. Since than everything became more complicated, contradictory and confusing. And in a way everything turned upside down. 

But I start at another point. In spring I made a little tour with a friend. We travelled from Berlin to western Poland only a few hours away. It was my first trip to this region and my friend, who is an expert and knows a lot about the history of this area, told me about the mass migration that took place there. I know that some ancestors of mine lived there as well, but it is very long ago and I don´t know when exactly and how they left. I don´t know if they had enough time to go or if they had to flee in a hurry and to leave important thinks behind. The people who came after the people who had to leave their home, were also forced to leave there homes before. Often they hoped over a lifetime to go back - and than the next generation was born - grew up and maybe call these places home today.

I was thinking about this history when I walked through the little cities, observing people who are living their daily lives. On our little exploration trip we found per accident a beautiful and very old overgrown german graveyard, hidden in a little wood, telling from the people who once lived there.

This is only a small experience how places and people can change and even if we forget these experiences, the storys are there and if we look careful, we can find them everywhere, in every family. I grew up in three countries (in Europe), I had to leave a couple of times my friends, my schools, and all the things that surrounded me. That wasn´t always easy but with many of my friends I kept in touch, I was able to visit them and as a kid my family gave me the best safety I needed in difficult times and I also met people who were open and helped. 

So know I come back to my experience in the last couple of months. I think sometimes we forget how much we have in common with so-called and categorized „refugees“. We have dreams and visions about the future, we want to have a place to live, to be save or to make choices about our life. This is very easy if you have (for example) a german Passport. If you don´t have a Passport doors are closed. If you come from a so-called „safe“ country doors are closed. If you don´t fit into the exact category that are made up for refugees, for getting asylum, doors are closed as well. 

So why we have this mechanism of closed doors, that we can´t see the person behind anymore? A person that needs to be seen.