After the beginning of the russian full-scale aggression against Ukraine, many Ukrainians were forced to seek refuge in other countries.Some of our guys relocated to Germany, where they continue to work, arrange their lives outside our Motherland and, of course, donate to Victory and help with volunteer work.We asked them what challenges and difficulties they had to face in Germany, whether they would recommend this country for relocation, and we are very grateful that they shared their stories with us.
Andrii Braverman (Senior React Developer), Ellwangen
We had been thinking for a quite long time about where to go: my wife was pregnant and we did not want to give birth in Ukraine (our friend was in Lviv at that time, she gave birth, and 2 hours after the cesarean section – she was already being taken down to the bombshelter). Medicine is better in Germany, so the choice fell on this country. We have friends in Germany, but they live in the northern part of the country, and we wanted to settle in the south, so at first we just went to “nowhere”.
My friend, who now works for our company, once went to Germany to earn money, and he has good friends who helped us find shelter in the beginning. A woman agreed to take me and my wife into her house. As it turned out upon arrival, she moved in a wheelchair, but despite everything, she is a very open, cheerful and generally beautiful person.We were allocated half of the house with its own kitchen, bathroom and two rooms. It was wonderful, we were able to calmly wait for the birth of the child. The owners helped us in everything: from documents to the first baby stuff, which we did not even ask for.Later, when it became clear that we would not be staying for one or two months, we started looking for separate housing. It is very difficult to find non-social housing, there may be a queue of 5-10 families or 20-30 for one apartment.Everything we found via the real estate searching apps or through a broker was in very bad condition and we didn’t even want to live there, especially with a newborn.If they found a house that was renovated at least 10 years ago, we were refused because we had a cat. Finally, I decided to post an ad “looking for an apartment” with a family photo.We were lucky, the daughter of our future landlord, who bought herself a separate apartment, was looking for people she wanted to accommodate in her apartment (in Germany, private houses are often divided into 2-3 apartments on floors and families seem to live separately, but in one house) and she came across my announcement. She liked us from the photo and invited us to see the apartment. It was like a breath of fresh air: renovation, space and all the infrastructure nearby. We are pretty lucky!Regarding communication, I personally do not have any major problems with the language barrier, because in most cases I communicate in English. Sometimes we meet Russian speakers, these are mostly people who have been living there for 20-30-40 years with adequate views on life, who try to help.We live in a fairly small town, but quite developed (Ellwangen). We like it. It is quiet and peaceful. Ancient architecture adds a special atmosphere to walks.We had time to travel around Germany a bit. From the big cities – these are Munich, Stuttgart, Dortmund, we have also traveled a lot in small cities. Every small town impresses with its ancient architecture, and unlike the big ones, with its purity and dimension of life. We were also in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.The only thing I would like to borrow from Germany is the stability of the economy, which allows people to live without looking back for money, for a simple existence, not only for some sections of the population, but for everyone.Everything I’ve seen indicates that the country aims for the majority of people to live in abundance, but some negatives follow from this. For example, everything is done through the mail, even banks still send cards and pin codes, to restore the password only through the mail, in 2-3 days, but this is to save many thousands of jobs, probably.Banks spend less on new technologies, but at the same time, they give loans at low interest rates. Rates have increased to 3-5% in recent years, before mortgages were taken at 1%, but for us 3% already sounds cool, even now with new programs from the president.I can certainly recommend relocation to Germany, but personally I do not have a heart for this country, and at the first news that it is safe to go home, I would do it. This is everyone’s question. The language barrier for the wife and the probability that the child will speak German – seems to me not a very good prospect.
#Speroteck Dream Team
