home international passport How the Friedland transit camp greeted me. Late migrant camp in Friedland

How the Friedland transit camp greeted me. Late migrant camp in Friedland

"Two questions for the camera?" - a DW correspondent addresses a group of people. "No, no, no. No way!" - they answer. Russian-speaking residents of the last camp in Germany for ethnic Germans - the so-called late migrants, located on the border of the federal states of Lower Saxony and Hesse, unanimously refuse to give video interviews. They are afraid.

Some say that they are afraid of troubles for relatives in Russia, others do not want their friends to find out that they have moved to Germany in the first place, and others make excuses by saying that, “Mom doesn’t know that I smoke.” It takes an hour to convince someone to film.

Step in new life

Although in reality there is nothing to be afraid of. Those who found themselves here in Friedland have already taken a decisive step into a new life. The camp for refugees and late settlers is considered the “gateway to Germany” - today all Russian Germans returning to their historical homeland pass through it. Over the past five years, their number has been growing steadily.

Spending a few days here immediately after arriving in Germany, they undergo a medical examination in neighboring Göttingen, receive documents and find out their destination - the federal state in which they will start a new life.

"Where?" - this question is greeted by everyone who leaves the officials in the waiting room on the second floor in the building of the local branch of the Federal Administrative Department, located right on the camp grounds. "Thuringia!" - someone answers, and a sigh of sympathy is heard throughout the hall. Because Thuringia is the former GDR, this is not considered very good. But the southern or western lands- Bavaria or North Rhine-Westphalia is better.

“Before, old people left, now young people are fleeing”

R.'s family also wants to go to Bavaria, to Munich. Parents are retired and their daughter is a doctor who taught at a medical institute in her homeland. “You know what kind of science we have - it’s none,” says the mother. “Before, old people left for Germany, now young people are fleeing.” The daughter is silent and sighs.

The father says that the work of his public organization, which dealt with German-Russian relations, became impossible due to the law on “foreign agents.” “So, maybe you’ll give an interview to a media company that almost ended up on the list of “foreign agents”?” - asks a DW correspondent. Everyone is laughing. “No, under no circumstances. There is no need for any interviews,” comes the answer.

The wall in the waiting room is decorated from floor to ceiling with children's drawings. The sun, the rainbow, the names of the cities from which its new inhabitants came to Germany.

Nearby, the Trudnov family - parents and two twin sons - are waiting for their appointment with an official. They arrived in Germany from Kaliningrad literally the day before yesterday. And this family can be considered typical representatives of the last wave of emigration of ethnic Germans from Russia - almost all of their relatives have already moved to Germany. In the spring of 2016, they also decided to move. “We have been visiting relatives every year since 2002,” says Larisa Trudova. “We really like it in Germany.”

From the German bureaucratic machine they have the most best impressions: “Everything is done quickly, the queues look large, but they move quickly. And the children did not have time to get tired.” The Trudnovs hope that their children will receive a good education and will find application in the field of German-Russian relations. Which, according to the spouses, will get better sooner or later.

Moving to Germany without culture shock

Camp director Heinrich Hörnschemeyer has been working here since the summer of 1991. Since 2000, the point in Friedland has become the only one in all of Germany where ethnic Germans from the countries of the former USSR, primarily from Russia and Kazakhstan, are accepted and distributed among the federal states. The director says that the demographic composition of Russian Germans in last years changed a lot. During the main wave of repatriation in the early 1990s, families of up to 20 people, including representatives of several generations of ethnic Germans, came to Germany. For most of them, this was their first visit to Germany, and “they could be seen a mile away” - by their traditional costumes. “In those days, young people didn’t wear jeans,” he recalls with a smile.

The latest wave of immigrants includes people who have relatives in Germany and clear ideas about what awaits them in the country and what they want. Camp guests do not smoke where it is not permitted and show up for appointments with officials on time, Hoernschemeyer said.

“They are much better prepared, they don’t have any culture shock,” notes Hörnschemeyer. “And this is noticeable if only because in recent years the country has stopped talking about the problems of integrating late migrants.” The history of the mass resettlement of Russian Germans to Germany, according to him, is a success story.

"People know what awaits them"

"Moving to Germany can no longer be compared to jumping into cold water, as it was in the 1990s. People know what awaits them," agrees Joachim Mrugalla, who runs the local branch of the Federal Office of Administration.

He explains the increase in the number of immigrants from the former USSR observed over the past five years simply. Since 2013, Germany has had a new law that softens the entry conditions for families of ethnic Germans.

If previously moving was possible once and for the whole family at once, now relatives remaining in Russia can reunite with those who have already moved to Germany. Furthermore, the language barrier is reduced for them - a mandatory test for German language can be retaken several times. More and more people are using innovations, so the number of immigrants is growing.

Context

The camp in Friedland has a capacity of 800 people. About a third of them are reserved for late migrants, the rest for refugees and other categories of migrants. Accommodation and food here are free. The migrants spend no more than a week in this place before scattering throughout the country.

Just over 7,000 people passed through Friedland last year. This is almost a fivefold increase compared to 2013. But this is nothing compared to the millions of people who arrived here in the 1990s.

“Back then ten people could spend the night in one room - and no one was indignant,” recalls camp director Heinrich Hörnschemeyer with a smile.

After arriving in Germany, I, like all late migrants, had to arrive at the camp of late migrants in Friedland.

I would like to start with the fact that I flew all night on the plane, since this was the first time in my life that I was not able to sleep on the plane. And so, having arrived at the camp at 12 noon, I, sleepy and powerless, planned to quickly get the key and fall asleep where I would be accommodated. The first step was to visit the commandant to somehow inform about yourself and get the keys. Since it was 12 noon, the commandant said that she had lunch. She asked me to wait and sit in the corridor. This is where the fun began. Returning half an hour later, the commandant began calling everyone except me over the speakerphone. After sitting for another two hours waiting, I felt like I was going to collapse and fall asleep right in the corridor, and besides, I really wanted to eat. Unable to bear it, I went ahead, upon entering I gave my call, my passport and asked to be processed. The commandant handed my papers to the girl sitting next to me at the computer, apparently an employee of a federal department. It took me a long time to write something down and return the documents to the commandant. Then the commandant gives me the papers and declares that there is no room in the camp and they are ready to put me up in a hotel or offered to stay with my closest relatives. My closest relatives lived in Bavaria and therefore I agreed to a hotel without hesitation. Again they asked me to wait in the corridor. And after sitting until 16.30, afraid to go anywhere, they would suddenly call me, a young girl comes out and says that I can take my suitcase, in 10 minutes her colleague will take me to the hotel. Having taken the suitcase, an older man met me, opened the trunk and I, putting my luggage there, tiredly sat down in the back seat. We drove for about 20 minutes and stopped at some village, which later turned out to be a resort town, we stopped near some hotel. I pulled out my luggage and followed the man, he came up to the reception, said a few words, pointed his finger at me, and left. I went up to the reception and they asked me a couple of questions whether I smoked or something like that. Then they said what time it was for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nodding my head wearily, I climbed into my room. It was surprisingly nice, a wonderful shower, TV, but it was cold, very cold... then I learned that I had to turn on the batteries myself. Having turned on the battery, I took a shower and at 18 pm I fell asleep without my hind legs and slept until lunch the next day. After lunch, I saw that I was not the only Russian speaker. Besides me, 3 other families of late migrants lived in the hotel. We all met and talked for a couple of days until we were told at one of the breakfasts that tomorrow at 10 am a bus would pick us up and take us to the procedures. The next day, at exactly 10, a bus arrived with about 20 people and us. The girl announced through a voice recorder throughout the bus that there is now war in Syria and therefore there are many refugees in the camp, asked us to sympathize with them and said that the employees are no less interested than us in getting us processed quickly. Then I called everyone on the bus by last name and noted who was there and who wasn’t. My last name was already there. Afterwards, she walked around the bus and gave everyone a form and a slider in which it was written who we needed to visit.

Fluorography

First of all, we arrived in a neighboring town where the same girl who was on the bus took us to Fluorography. Entering the hospital, we were led into a corridor with 4 doors. One person went into each of them; when I went there, I found myself in a small room, as I understood, I had to undress there. Having taken off my outer clothing, I opened the next door and there the doctor took me to the machine and asked me not to breathe. Literally a couple of minutes later he nodded his head as if to sign that everything was done and I got dressed again and went out to everyone. We were asked to be in one place and not disperse. Having gone through everything Fluorography the same girl said that now the children will be examined. For children Fluorography didn't do it. The children were examined by therapists and ENT specialists... Everyone passed the examination safely, everyone was given the results and we were taken to Friedland.

Initial registration

Then we were taken to the federal department, where they told us to fill out the forms that they gave us on the bus. It is written there in German and below in Russian, but fill it out exclusively in German. There were questions like this:

FULL NAME
Age
Where
Education
Work experience, where and when and by whom did you work?
Relatives in Germany, where they live
Religion
Where would I like to live in Germany

And everything like that. Afterwards we were called by name and taken into the office of an official who checked our profiles and entered the data into the computer.

Afterwards we were put on a bus and taken to our hotels.

Secondary registration

Literally a couple of days later they called us and said that a minibus would arrive and to be ready with our things. The next day we were brought to the camp with our things. There they gave me the key to the room and told me to go back to the building of the federal department for term. When I got there I found out that they had been looking for me since the morning. I said that I had arrived and literally 30 minutes later the official who called me was not the same one who was in the first term, there was another official and he already took me to his office and there he also filled out something and then said that he had submitted a request to the land and city where I want to live. I asked me to sit and wait. After sitting for about an hour, he called me again and already gave me documents that I had passed registration, directions to courses and directions to the dormitory where I would live. It turned out that the city was not where I wanted, but completely different. 400 km from the city where I wanted to live. Well, here I was powerless, so after thanking for everything, I retired to my room in the camp.

Final stage

The next day I visited the Job Center where they filled out a form for me and gave it to me so that I could give it to my place of residence. Then, going to the commandant, I gave my documents and said that I was leaving, they asked me to wait, after 30 minutes they called me and showed me a train ticket and said that they would give it to me tomorrow. They gave me 110 euros, partial compensation for my expenses for coming to Germany. After spending the night in the camp, at 7 am I came to the commandant and gave me the keys and in return I received a train ticket and a bunch of other papers that were useful in the city where I lived.

This is approximately the stage all late migrants go through in the camp in Friedland. In the following articles I will talk about adaptation in the city, the first steps that will undoubtedly be useful to you. And I'll give you some practical advice.

We were flying from Siberia. The tickets were for March 3 to Dusseldorf. We deliberately bought tickets not to Hanover, for a trivial reason - tickets to Dusseldorf cost us 300...350 euros for two, the same tickets to Hannover would have cost 500 euros+.
Besides, we were just interested in seeing this city. We booked a cheap but very decent hotel near Hauptbahnhof. We took a break after the flights/transfers and at lunchtime boarded the train to Friedland. Tickets and discount card bahncard 25: we also ordered from the Russian Federation in advance. Everything was very simple and convenient. On the evening of the 4th we were already in Friedland. We moved into the 5th barrack. The people in Friedland are in darkness. There are 20-30 displaced people and 200-250 refugees. At the end of our stay there, several refugees were moved into a barracks with displaced people, since there was simply no room. Enough has already been said about Friedland itself, the food there, the conditions, etc. - a small, beautiful, clean and tidy town. The only thing I can note is the kind of “cadres” one encounters among the displaced people—it’s quiet darkness. Sitting on the “courts”, near the barracks, drinking beer from the throat and husking sunflower seeds right there on the ground - these gentlemen were not at all embarrassed.
Distribution.
Since we had no relatives, there were few options to get to Bavaria or NRV. This was actually confirmed during the meeting with the berator. He simply showed a list of all lands and quotas for each. Berator fortunately spoke English, although worse than us))). We approached the issue openly. We just asked what we wanted to do in a big city and what would they advise us as IT specialists? They seemed to be impressed and said that Thuringia, Brandenburg, Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt and the north would not suit us in any way, since these are practically only agricultural regions. They recommended Saxony. We didn’t bother too much and agreed. When we came to the berator on the next term, he said that we were not going to Leipzig, but UNDER Leipzig, which I didn’t like at all (he said that in Leipzig all the heims are full), and after he gave the exact address and I googled where it was and how a slight shock came over us.
Near Leipzig there was a very small town called Wurzen, it was unexpected, but not so scary. It turned out that Heim is located in the village of Trebelshain, 6 km from this very Wurzen. And there is no transport, no store or bakery. Even the connection there worked poorly. We arrived there on March 11th.
http://goo.gl/maps/stmHX
The nearest transport is the train, the stop of which is 2 km from this “farm”. 2 km along a windswept road just to go to Wurzen and buy groceries.
We experienced the biggest shock when the housemaster of this place finally brought us there.
Cold, 2-storey building in the style of "welcome to the USSR and the GDR", a half-wall map of the USSR from the GDR. Cast iron batteries and furniture from the USSR. Dust, cobwebs. Bunk beds. The image was completed by a view from the window of a barn with sheep that were grazing there outside the window, as well as a note written in Russian and pasted over the urinal in the men’s toilet - “don’t flatter yourself - come closer!”

It was clear that they had been sent to this high school very rarely in recent years. Besides us, there was only one family from Kazakhstan, who moved out a few days after we arrived.
Despite all the obvious disadvantages of this place and this area, there were also advantages, as it turned out later.
1. Housemaster. An elderly German, Herr Herberdt, 65 years old. He helped with everything, drove him everywhere in his car. It was clear that he knew all the procedures perfectly. He spoke only German with a hellish dialect, which we learned to barely understand. I helped fill out all the entrags, commenting on every difficult line or word in the entrags.
2. Speed of bureaucracy. On the second day in Heim we visited the Job Center and the Burgersamt. On the third day, we already had German temporary annual passports (Reisepassen) and an open account in Sparkasse. A week later we had the spark pass cards in our hands, and a week later we already received late migrant certificates from Friedland.
3. Khaim was, one might say, empty, and therefore we could quite easily manage a huge kitchen with a bunch of dishes, essentially designed for 10-15 families and a huge dining room. We lived in a room on the second floor and we had a personal bathroom (very clean, I must say), where we could easily leave all our washing supplies.
4. The absence of refugees (refugees) was a positive factor. I have a normal attitude towards people of the East, but let’s say different approaches to hygiene in Russia and, say, Afghanistan, as well as religious aspects, would create certain inconveniences.
Search for an apartment.
As soon as our neighbors from Kazakhstan, with the help of our relatives, found an apartment and moved out of the village, we also became concerned about finding housing. The well-known site http://www.immobilienscout24.de came to the rescue
We wrote a very polite letter in German, explaining who we were and what we wanted, and I began methodically sending out requests to apartments that interested us and met social standards. Previously, I studied which areas of Leipzig it is definitely better not to go into, and which ones are good (why do you need the Turkish quarter for example?!). The fact is that farmers are very reluctant to rent out apartments to applicants receiving ALG-II social benefits, which almost all of us, displaced people at first, are (and this point must be discussed when looking for housing - otherwise you will simply waste time/ride in vain). The 30 messages sent received 3 or 4 replies. We looked at the apartments and chose one. Fermiter was a private trader, not a broker. This was his home. Among other things, the farmer spoke English well, which improved mutual understanding by 5 times.
The bottom line. On March 3rd we landed in Germany, and on April 1st we moved into an apartment in a wonderful and big city Leipzig. There are courses ahead... and much more. I don’t presume to judge myself, since I have no experience, but a friend of mine who has lived here for many years said that everything worked out FANTASTICALLY quickly. If anyone has questions, write in a personal message, I can help you. Good luck to all!

Auf Wiedersehen!

The first goal after returning to the historical homeland is a distribution camp for the city center. It opens the door to various categories of migrants: refugees, Jews, from the former USSR.

How to get to Friedland

It is convenient to fly to Hannover by plane, then go by train to Göttingen and then take a few minutes by train.
But if you fly to Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main or Dresden, the journey won't get much longer.

German train services are excellent, with trains running quickly and frequently. Pay attention to the ticket price and arrival time.

Arrival in Friedland, building No. 16 in the background, where interviews are taking place.

It is inconvenient to travel from Russia by train. The route Berlin - Kassel - Friedland has two transfers in Germany. For a traveler laden with belongings, it’s hardly the best option to hop around train stations.

The services of private companies provide maximum comfort. Arrivals will be met at the airport or train station and taken directly to. Transfer from Hannover costs approximately 200€.

TRANSFER TO FRIEDLAND

Get to Friedland in comfort! A Russian-speaking driver will meet you at Hannover Airport, help you load your luggage onto the bus, and take you straight to the gates of the resettlement camp in Friedland.

ORDER TRANSFER

If you are interested in how to get to the camp of late migrants cheaper, choose a bus. It takes longer and is least convenient.

What awaits you there

Friedland's task is the initial registration of newly arrived Germans and resettlement throughout the territory of Germany. The average length of stay is 3 days.

Plan of a camp for late settlers in Friedland

Working days are from Monday to Friday, but moving in new residents on weekends is not a problem. Arrive on Sunday, and start solving matters on Monday - a good option. The registration procedure takes place in building No. 1.

When you arrive at the Friedland IDP camp, you will receive a sheet with designated reception hours, forms to fill out, a key to the room, and a pass card to the dining room for the family. Everyone receives gifts from charitable organizations - clothes and dictionaries.

It is not necessary to live in the camp area. rent a hotel or stay with friends/relatives if the person agrees not to be late.

If your knowledge of German does not allow you to communicate freely, you can interview a relative or friend who speaks the language. No one will be sent back for language ignorance, but it is absolutely necessary to understand exactly what the officials are saying. It is impossible to answer unequivocally what questions are asked - everything is personal.

Check-in, document verification, medical procedures

Arriving Germans are accommodated in buildings No. 5-7. The dining room is located in building No. 4 (at the entrance they check the presence of a card and put a stamp).

Dormitory room at the camp in Friedland

The rooms and bed linen are clean. Not a hotel, but the weather doesn't work for a couple of days. Near the door to the room there is a sign on which the family's name, the number of residents and the date of arrival are written.

In building No. 16, late migrants undergo a check of papers and personal data specified in the application form.

What documents need to be prepared for the first appointment:

Completed forms
Aufnahmebescheid
Passports and birth and marriage certificates of family members

The questionnaire indicates the desired place of residence in Germany, which is discussed at the second interview.

Residents of the Friedland camp undergo fluorography during their stay. On the appointed day, the group is collected in the morning and taken by bus to Göttingen, where medical examinations are carried out.

An example of lunch in the Friedland camp canteen

About health insurance and assistance

From the moment of arrival until distribution, all necessary medical care is provided free of charge. After registration for permanent residence for the first 78 weeks, the regional AOK fund is responsible for health insurance, regardless of status and benefits.

Further, state insurance for the unemployed is paid by the state.
Employees can continue to work at AOK or change companies at their own discretion.
Entrepreneurs choose between private and voluntary insurance.

Registrierschein

After completing the interviews at the Friedland IDP camp and signing the distribution documents, a registration certificate is issued and free tickets to your place of residence.

In the dormitories of the Friedland camp there are children's corners for games in bad weather.

Persons with §4 who were born before 1956 are entitled to a one-time compensation - Eingliederungshilfe. The size varies depending on the date of birth and ranges from 2000-3000 €. You can receive money in Friedland or upon arrival for permanent residence.

From camp to home

Choice federal state and cities are limited by availability and budget.

The south and center of Germany are overpopulated with refugees.
Russian Germans are often offered the north of Germany.
You can get to the desired land if you have relatives who are ready to register you with them.

The result of the distribution depends greatly on the official. Personal charm will have to be turned on at full strength. If the city does not have a budget for benefits, new arrivals are denied in any case.

They will be assigned to the selected location if you own your own property in the country or voluntarily refuse social benefits.

Become a German citizen

You are allocated a room in a hostel or an apartment paid for by social services.

Further actions:

The first step is to contact the city hall - Rathaus, and register in Germany.
A copy of the registration confirmation received must be sent to Camp Friedland at BVA.
You will be sent a certificate of late migration - Spätaussiedlerbescheinigung, upon receipt of which you become citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The time has come to issue German passports - the mayor's office is responsible for issuing them. But first, you are allowed to contact the registry office - Standesamt to change the spelling of names and surnames in the German manner. The procedure is performed once free of charge, then correcting the letter costs 200 €.

Important! Children born between their arrival in Friedland and their parents' receipt of settlement certificates do not receive German citizenship. Perhaps in the future the legal issue will be corrected, but for now it is better for late-term pregnant women not to leave before giving birth in order to avoid bureaucratic red tape that takes several years. Moving in with a newborn does not bring any problems. The birth of a child after one of the parents has received a certificate also automatically gives the baby German citizenship.

Advanced training and German language

If you immigrate with an engineering degree, the camp will refer you to the Otto Benecke Foundation. The organization provides free scholarships to engineers arriving from countries of Eastern Europe. With this money, a technical specialist can improve his qualifications or retrain in the German way at one of the highest educational institutions, with whom the fund has entered into an agreement. Migrants under 31 years of age receive assistance with the recognition of diplomas.

With a registration certificate you can take free integration courses lasting six months. For permission to take courses, please contact the Office for Foreigners - Ausländeramt. If the distance to the venue is more than 3 kilometers, a free pass for public transport is included.

The course volume is 600 hours (an additional module on basic life issues in the country is optional). The content roughly repeats the content of this site, only in German.

It is unrealistic for a working person to take courses; there is simply nowhere to get so much time.

The history of the camp in Friedland

The camp was created in this town not by chance. It was built immediately after the war. We chose a place at the junction of 3 occupation zones: British, Soviet and American.

At first, former prisoners returning from the USSR were settled there.
Then they were used to receive defectors from the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Since 1980, migrants from Soviet Union, and then people with German “roots”.

Previously, there were several such camps for the resettlement of ethnic Germans, but then the migration flow dried up, and this moment Only Friedland remains open.

Frequently asked questions and discussion of the PP topic on the forum

Based on materials from the site www.tupa-germania.ru