Nadja Schwed and her family had wished for that very much. They were stranded in Zorneding in mid-March after a grueling escape from the Ukraine. There they found a place to stay with Daniela and Reinhard Preis. Son Xaver, 10, cleared out his children’s room and moved into the hobby room. The price did not want to expect their guests to do that. Not that the room isn’t nice. But they feared a basement could bring back bad memories, especially for Nadja Schwed’s sons Andrii, 6, and Vladi, 3.
Before Nadja Schwed, her mother Valentina Makukh and the boys left their village near Mykolaiv, they stayed in the basement for days to protect themselves from the attacks of the Russian army. When a rocket landed just a few yards from the Swedes’ home, Nadia packed up her loved ones and a few belongings and set off. Just get out of Ukraine, keep the kids safe. Her husband and father had to stay behind. Her brother is fighting at the front
The family could have stayed as long as needed.
They spent a good four months in Zorneding. In the beginning, it was mainly the children who were ill, presumably as a result of war trauma and flight. But after a few weeks, the two boys were playing happily in the garden of the Zornedingen terraced house, Grandma Valentina was cooking borscht and other Ukrainian specialties for the new extended family, and Nadja Schwed was walking the dog Iggy, attending a German course and learning vocabulary.
But even though both families got along well with each other and Nadja Schwed could be sure that she would be welcome with her mother and two sons in Xaver’s children’s room for as long as necessary, the longing for an apartment remained. Daniela and Reinhard Preis also wanted this for their guests – not because they wanted to get rid of them, but because a children’s room for four people is not a good solution in the long run. The joy was all the greater when a couple offered the prospect of an apartment with a garden in Berganger. But then came the offer to move to my uncle in Halle. A train was quickly booked, the suitcases packed and on a hot July Sunday it was time to say goodbye to the hosts and Zorneding.
In the meantime, the four have settled in Halle and moved into a small apartment. Andrii will start school next week, and Vladi will go to daycare from September.
Andrii tries out the door opener in the hallway of the new apartment in Halle an der Saale.
(Photo: private)
The living and dining room. The apartment is furnished.
(Photo: private)
The bedroom.
(Photo: private)
Nadja Schwed fights her way through one or two bureaucratic hurdles, which were significantly lower when the Preis family was still helping. “It’s difficult if you don’t speak the language,” she says. Even more serious, however, is that a return to Mykolaiv is out of the question for the time being. Just a few days ago, the city was again under heavy fire from the Russian army. That’s why she and her mother continue to work on their German language skills in Halle.
Nadja Schwed likes to think back to the time in Zorneding. “Thank you for helping my family. We remember your kindness. We love you,” she wrote.