“I’m here in Chemnitz in front of a shop for Eastern European specialties. It’s called Alekz and is also referred to here in Chemnitz as the so-called “Russian shop”. However, its owner is not Russian, but Ukrainian.”
Alexei Ermolayev has been running his market here for almost 15 years. On offer: international food from Eastern Europe, Turkey, Asia and Russia. Alexej runs the shop together with his wife Olga and several employees. His customers come from all over the world: in addition to German, European and Arab customers, many Chemnitz residents of Russian origin also shop here. In the back room of the market, Alexej and some employees tell me about the tensions that have been felt here since the outbreak of the war. Customers who would have greeted him earlier are now quiet – political discussions are also avoided, says an employee.
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But what is particularly annoying are the many false reports that are being spread about the store:
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Talking about it is not easy for Alexei – he fears that if he is open about it, he will attract further hatred. Most notably on the Russian network Odnoklassniki, where he has a profile for his shop, supporters of Putin’s policies post angry comments. The social network is the second largest Russian social network after VKontakte. Alexej tells me that he knows many of the people here personally, most of whom are from the area. The fact that he hung a Ukrainian flag on the sign of his shop, a symbolic act of solidarity with his home country that can be seen in many cities, caused protests in the network:
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Lisa is from Kyiv – she has been working as a temp at Aleks for a year. The young woman is studying psychology at Chemnitz University of Technology and has been living here for two years. She guides me through the store and shows me the international products in the store. For example Kremlin salmon from the Lemberg company – produced in Canada, packaged in Germany. In Aleks, Ukrainian chocolate is next to Russian – there is no separation according to nationality. Alexej is skeptical that some discounters are taking Russian groceries out of their range:
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For Lisa, too, exchange is more important than exclusion: she tells me that when the war broke out, Russian friends asked her if their relatives were happy about the invasion. The 21-year-old spoke to them, told them about their worries and was able to change the perspective of the friends. For three weeks she has been worried about her parents in Kyiv every day – they don’t want to leave the city for fear of looting.
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Alexey’s family also lives in Ukraine – his brother has joined the army in his country. For Alexej that is out of the question. From Germany he is trying to do what is possible to help. He has already been to the Polish-Ukrainian border twice – in cooperation with other companies in the area, he has brought food there. He also wants to collect donations and help in the future. His employees also help where they can:
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Despite the sad and tense everyday life, there are also rays of hope in “Alex”. More and more often, new customers come by who have found out about his offer in the newspaper or on the Internet. But all this is only marginally important to the Ukrainian. For the future, he and his employees hope for one thing above all: that the war will end quickly.