BERLIN — Olha Kirdiaieva had been to Germany many times before, but didn’t think it would become her home.

Over one million Ukrainian refugees went to Germany following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A few days before the war began, she and her partner moved to western Ukraine out of fear for their safety, and they wanted to stay there for two weeks, but things took another turn.

At 5 a.m., she woke up to a call from her mom saying that Kyiv was getting bombed.

“That was an eerie feeling, because I knew that I was safe, that the town I’m in was not getting bombed,” Kirdiaieva said.

Kirdiaieva said she feels welcome in Germany and thinks it has done a great job welcoming Ukrainians, and although she doesn’t receive any monetary support from the state, she feels comfortable. She also learned German while she was still living in Ukraine.

Another Ukrainian, Viktoria, similar to Kirdiaieva, had been to Germany before and said she never wanted to live abroad and was happy in Ukraine.

“You work, develop, have a community, earn enough to travel and live comfortably,” Viktoria said.

At one point, Viktoria felt like her help was needed in Ukraine and desperately wanted to go back.

“I constantly wanted to go home, I had depressive episodes,” she recalls.

Eventually, she returned to Ukraine to volunteer, but due to frequent shelling and explosions, her mental health became worse.

“The fear of dying was mega strong, so I decided to return and give myself a chance to try to live in Germany,” Viktoria explains.

Many refugee communities in Germany have experienced traumas of war, loss, and challenges of relocating. Still, one community seems to have a harder time integrating in comparison to the Ukrainians due to cultural and religious differences and how the government views each community.

A group of Syrian men were chatting in Arabic at a Berlin cafe when a German woman walked up to them.

“You’re in Germany,” she said. “You have to speak in German.”

“You’re not prepared to just respond,” said Ahmed, who asked that his real name not be used for safety reasons.

In March 2011, Syria’s government, led by former President Bashar al-Assad, encountered pro-democracy protests that challenged its authority and demanded an end to the authoritarianism of the Assad regime. Opposition militias began to form, and by 2012, the conflict turned into a civil war.

Millions of Syrians fled the country and sought refuge in many countries, like Germany. The German Federal Statistical Office reports that an estimated 973,000 Syrians were living in Germany by the end of 2023, of whom 712,000 had refugee status.

Now, in 2024, after the collapse of the Assad regime, the new government came into place and took control over Syria.

But the future of Syria remains uncertain.

Ahmed has been living in Germany since 2014 and recently moved to Berlin. He said he reflects on the war and how it unfolded.

“It didn’t start as a war, it gradually became one, it didn’t even feel like one when you were there,” he said.

The current political climate in Germany, with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) being the second largest party, garnering 20.8% of the votes, started a debate on Syrian refugees before the parliamentary elections.

Alice Weidel, the leader of the AfD, posted on X, “Whoever in Germany celebrates a ‘free Syria’ obviously has no reason any more to have fled. He should go back to Syria.”

Following Weidel’s comments, Sahra Wagenknecht, who established the new anti-immigrant populist party, said, “I expect the Syrians, who are celebrating here the takeover of power of Islamists, to return back to their home country as soon as possible.”

Ahmed came to Germany because of the civil war, but didn’t apply for asylum since he had a visa and the necessary paperwork. He’s been trying to gain German citizenship, and had to wait longer to apply due to not taking the integration course, since he didn’t want to pause his work and studies.

“Being there in the integration course, you don’t feel like you belong to the society,” Ahmed said, “It just feels like it’s a maze.”

Ahmed is not religious today, and the negative perception of Islam in the media makes him feel more detached from his faith.

“I noticed with time, I feel like I was inclined to push it away, like I’m not one of them,” he said, “When you open the news in Germany, it’s always talking about ISIS.”

Ahmed’s mom, on the other hand, wears a hijab and had a different experience.

Back in Syria, she wore a hijab, and when she came to Germany, she continued to wear it, but the reactions she received from people were horrible.

“She wore it here, and she felt like shit,” Ahmed said. He added that even though people wouldn’t say anything, the looks were worse.

Dr. Silke Radosh-Hinder, an ordained pastor of the Protestant Church of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) and the Superintendent of the Lutheran Church in Berlin-Mitte, said the church has been very supportive of the refugee communities.

Radosh-Hinder said her mentor, when she was training to become a pastor, established the German Sanctuary Movement, and the idea was that the refugees who had pending cases and were uncertain about their immigration status could find shelter at the church.

Radosh-Hinder remembers when the Syrian civil war broke out and how Germany reacted.

“There was an unprecedented willingness to help, to support, from people you had never seen helping,” Radosh-Hinder said.

Radosh-Hinder explains that the support from the church has changed over the years due to funding being cut off from the senate, and said the legal advisor of the church sanctuary movement has piles of cases on her desk.

The wave of Syrian refugees who went to Germany prepared the church to know how to act and support the Ukrainian refugees in 2022.

“I mean, we learned from the first situation, and I think we did much better,” Radosh-Hinder said.

According to Radosh-Hinder, Ukrainian and Syrian refugees have a lot in common, but religious differences play a key role in their integration.

“This is often a reason for the right-wing parties to say this is why they are not integrated,” Radosh-Hinder said. “I believe it might be easier for the Ukrainian community also, due to, [being] Christian.”

Mehdi A., a Syrian refugee, said that when he first arrived in Germany, he and his family of five were struggling to support themselves.

“Money was short, we were new in a completely different culture and had absolutely nothing,” he said.

Mehdi said all Muslim refugee families have a hard time integrating, and the main reason is the cultural differences.

“Some Germans don’t understand these cultures, and most of the refugees don’t try to adapt,” and adds that refugees only interact with people from their own community, which makes the integration process harder.

In contrast, Ahmed said that some aspects of integration are friendlier towards Ukrainian refugees and that in train stations, there are arrows on the floor guiding you in Ukrainian, and adds that the reactions would’ve been different if the directions were in Arabic.

To obtain German citizenship, you should be able to support yourself independently without the state’s help, but since Ahmed’s dad is handicapped and his mom is his caretaker and is unemployed, she doesn’t qualify.

“This is the definition of integrated Syrians,” he said, “If you work, you’re integrated.”

He has conflicting feelings about Germany and has an internal debate on where to call home.

“I feel like it’s my culture here, but it’s very difficult to feel like I’m welcome here,” he said. “For me, it’s my home, more than in Syria, not just like 100% at home, it’s just more than there.”