Amaliia, 12, from Bakhmut
“Do you know that feeling of fear? When you wake up from explosions? When rockets fly and you see them out the window of your room? When you keep hearing explosions right next to you? I come from Bakhmut. My city is destroyed. Mine The school burned down. My home is gone. Almost all of my family have fled. They now live somewhere else. We no longer play together, we no longer walk in the park, we no longer ride our bikes, we no longer celebrate parties together . I miss those happy days when our family was together. Only my grandfather stayed in Bakhmut. There is no electricity, no water, no gas, no telephone. He draws water from the spring and heats his stove. There is one Garden where apples, plums, pears, peaches and apricots grow. ‘Amaliia, do you want to go home?’ I don’t know how to answer that question because I understand my home is gone and there is nowhere to go back to.”
Amaliia.
(Photo: private)
Emily, 16, from Kyiv
“I would like to start my story a week before the war. I was with the Ukrainian national water polo team at the European Championships in Romania. The girls from the German team were incredible. On February 21, 2022 we went back to Ukraine. Everything like that as usual, I went to school, exercised, went out with friends, dreamed and made plans. Plans that it shredded only days later. My grandmother is 88 years old. For her, this is not the first war. She was seven years old then , told me a lot about the last war. Her house burned down. She starved. For many years. She is a strong woman. But the explosions scare her every time. War always brings destruction and death. On day ten of the war said my mother that we were leaving. I packed quickly and we went to the train station. How my city has changed in a few days: No people on the streets, tanks and armed guards everywhere. Streets are closed, shops closed. gunshots and explosions. I experienced a lot on the run, people screaming, cursing, falling. fear and horror in their eyes. People somehow trying to get on the train. People hugging each other. Alternating with sitting and standing. I arrived on March 8th, members of the Blau-Weiss-Bochum club picked us up, the head coach, the athlete colleagues. Thanks to these people I fell in love with Bochum. A new life began. Sure, it was and it is sometimes damn difficult. But now I can play in a team with the same girls I was amazed at at the European Championships in Romania. Thanks!”
Emily.
(Photo: private)
Margo, 14, from Kharkov
“In the beginning it was very difficult for me to live here in Germany. I didn’t understand a word, everyone was constantly looking at me, even the nights were difficult. I couldn’t let go of the thought that I should sleep peacefully here while in my Hundreds of people were dying in the country. I tried to take my mind off it, but I cried and cried, every evening. It only got better after half a year. Friends became more important again, I looked at my cell phone less. I realized that I would never go back in the past before the war will return. Nevertheless, a part of my heart is still there and always will be. The war in Ukraine has become almost everyday life. It can’t be. I want to return home. I don’t want to that thousands more die. I want peace! This is my story and it’s not over yet.”
margo
(Photo: private)
Karyna, 12, from Kropywnytskyi
“It is difficult for outsiders to understand what a tragic date February 24 is for us Ukrainians. It pains me to think that I now live in peace and that the people of my homeland have to do without light and food. All the warriors who protect my country, like my father. He is the one I miss the most. I love him very much. He went to war in March and he is still there. Sometimes I cry because so many things are coming together changed my life. Things I couldn’t decide freely about. “Only after we’ve lost everything do we have the freedom to do anything.” That’s a quote from the film Fight Club. Bochum reminds me of my homeland of Kropywnyzkyi, like it used to be. Because my city isn’t like I left it.”
Karyna.
(Photo: private)