12/4/2023 – Ukrainians in Germany Weigh Wrenching Choice: Stay or Go Home

As refugees, they were welcomed with safety, services and jobs. As the war grinds on, giving that up is not a simple decision.

The decommissioned Tegel airport in Berlin is a first stop for many Ukrainians arriving in Germany. About 3,000 are housed in large white halls close to a former runway.Credit…Lena Mucha for The New York Times

From: NY Times by Graham Bawley

Since fleeing Ukraine with her daughter, Iryna Khomich has made a home of a tiny space in a village of prefabricated units in southwestern Germany. A full tour of its single room takes only a few moments: an iron bunk bed and a wardrobe, shoes scattered near the door, clothes drying on radiators. On one recent afternoon, her cat, Dimka, walked in and out, while her daughter, Sofiia, 8, read a German textbook at a desk.

But like other displaced Ukrainians who fled west to wait out the war against Russia, Ms. Khomich, 37, lives each day wrestling with an agonizing choice: Should she return home to Ukraine, where the fighting drags on interminably, or put down roots in Germany, effectively turning a temporary separation into something more lasting?

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