Germany. The Jellinek family hosts Syrian Muslim Kinan from Damascus, in Berlin Mitte. Photo: Aubrey Wade / UNHCR
Jewish family opens their Berlin home to Muslim refugee
Every week, the Jellinek family gathers for a Shabbat dinner in their central Berlin home. Chaim, his wife Kyra and three of their four children sit around a candle-lit table to recite blessings over wine and good food.
This year, their weekly tradition has included an unlikely guest. Twenty-eight-year old Kinan, a Syrian Muslim, has been living with the Jellineks since November 2015. He joins them for Shabbat most Fridays and often cooks Syrian meals that he has learned to make by watching videos on YouTube.
Kinan, who prefers to be known only by his first name, used to work in marketing and pharmaceuticals in Damascus. He left Syria in July 2015 to avoid military service because, he said, he did not want to take up arms against his own people.
He went first to Turkey and then Greece. After he arrived in Germany in August 2015, he stayed in motels and a refugee camp until he met Chaim through an organisation called Freedomus, co-founded by Chaim, 59, a general practitioner with his own clinic.
The organisation publishes an informational handbook and offers some basic services for refugees, such as accompanying them to the immigration office or helping with translations.
The two met just as the Jellineks’ 20-year-old son Béla moved out to pursue a career in acting. They offered his room to Kinan.
We must accept different food, different culture, behaviour. It’s a process from both sides.
Kyra, 51, said their family set-up had hardly changed since Kinan moved in. “Everyone does what they feel like doing. Hosting a refugee is a win-win situation. Integration is much easier.”
The experience has been smooth so far. Kinan studies German every day. Daughters, Rosa, 18, and Lilli, 8, help him with his homework. Kinan’s only frustration is that he wishes he was learning the language more quickly so he can start working.
“Integration is not one-sided work,” Chaim said.”Integration is not something that we should only ask from people coming into our country. We should ask this of ourselves too. We must accept different food, different culture, behaviour. It’s a process from both sides.”
Kinan now introduces himself as a Berliner. He said he loved Germany and believed his fellow Syrians needed to look forward more.
“People I meet are always comparing life in Germany to life in Syria. You cannot compare,” he said. “If people just forget the past a bit and only look forward, I think integration will be faster and better.”
Portrait by Aubrey Wade
Assisted by Stjepan Sedlar
Text by Nadine Alfa
This story is part of the No Stranger Place series, which tells stories of refugees and locals living together in Europe. The project was initiated by Aubrey Wade, Sarah Böttcher and Stjepan Sedlar, and developed in partnership with UNHCR and Nadine Alfa.
