Story

A Syrian Family Uprooted by War, Reunited in Germany

February 22, 2015 | Pulitzer Center
By
Holly Pickett

Dalaa Al Aydi, 3, poses for a photo taken by her mother Nesrine, right, with Roa, a family friend from Yarmouk, in Lahr, Germany, October 21, 2014. The Al Aydis fled their home in besieged Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus after it was hit by shelling last year. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Wisam Al Aydi bakes traditional bread in his family's new home in the tiny village of Zell am Hammersbach, Germany, March 7, 2014. One of his brothers ran a bakery back in their hometown of Yarmouk. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Nesrine Al Aydi packs some of the family's belongings into boxes in their room at the group home for refugees in Lahr, Germany. The family of seven has moved 11 times since the war began, including at least five times in Germany. They were preparing for a final move, to the city of Lüneberg near Hamburg, to be closer to Wisam Al Aydi's brother Mwafak. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Wisam and Mwafak Al Aydi take a break from installing the kitchen cabinets and appliances in Wisam's family's new apartment in Lüneburg, Germany, October 23, 2014. The brothers were fixing up the house to prepare for the arrival of Wisam's family a few days later. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

A view from the train window on the way back to Mwafak Al Aydi's home in Wolfsburg, Germany, October 23, 2014. Mwafak had just received news that his sister Manal, very ill with cancer, had just arrived in Southern Germany, so he was en route to meet her at the hospital in Friedrichshafen. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Mwafak Al Aydi rides a train to meet his sister Manal in the hospital in Friedrichshafen, Germany, October 24, 2014. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Mwafak Al Aydi speaks with his sister Manal and nephew Nowras, 19, at a hospital in Friedrichshafen, Germany, October 24, 2014. Manal, very ill with cancer in her brain, abdomen, and leg, arrived from Turkey the previous day, wanting to spend whatever time she had left with her family in Germany. She collapsed when she arrived at the airport in Friedrichshafen, but the police thought she was lying about being ill. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Rafat Al Aydi, 20, right, takes in the view of southwestern Germany with his brother Naif, 16, during a walk in the Black Forest near their home in tiny Zell am Hammersbach, Germany in March 2014. The four Al Aydi boys, unable yet to speak German, struggled to adjust to life in their new village, but it wasn’t long before their family was on the move again, searching for a real place to call home. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

With help from a couple of young Syrian friends, the Al Aydi boys carry their luggage from the group home to the bus stop in Lahr, Germany, October 26, 2014. Nesrine Al Aydi and her five children set off from the group home for refugees in Lahr for Lüneburg and their new home, a 12-hour journey involving seven separate trains. Nesrine's husband Wisam had been working on the new apartment in Lüneburg and awaited their arrival there. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Munaf Al Aydi, 17, waits for a crowded train to come to a stop so he and his family can make a connection while moving across Germany to their new apartment in Lüneburg. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Towns and countryside speed by outside the train window, while the Al Aydi family moves across Germany to their new apartment in Lüneburg. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Nesrine Al Aydi, pushing 3-year-old Dalaa in a stroller, races to make a tight train connection while moving her family across Germany to their new apartment in Lüneburg. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Stress, anxiety, and a long journey catch up with Nesrine Al Aydi on the final leg of the trip to Lüneburg. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Dalaa Al Aydi's princess castle was among the first belongings to be unpacked and set up in the living room in the family's new apartment in Lüneburg, Germany, October 2014. Wisam, Mwafak, and their families turned their energy toward moving Manal from the hospital in Friedrichshafen to one in Wolfsburg, Mwafak’s city. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Wisam, Dalaa, and Nowras Al Aydi wait for the bus to take them to downtown Lüneburg, Germany. Wisam said he liked Lüneburg, but if he finds an opportunity to move to Wolfsburg, he will take it, so that his family, his brother Mwafak’s family and Manal can all finally live in the same city again. Image by Holly Pickett. Germany, 2014.

Around 200,000 people, many of them Syrians, applied for asylum in Germany last year, more than in any other European Union country. These images are from a story about one close-knit, middle-class family, the Al Aydis, who fled their home in the middle of the night, in advance of a Syrian Army assault on their Yarmouk neighborhood. Eight adult siblings scattered, some making their way to Lebanon, others to Turkey or Egypt. Wisam and Mwafak and their families arrived in Germany in 2013 and 2014, respectively, but were resettled on opposite sides of the country. For Wisam’s family of seven, the previous three years took a toll and the transition in Germany was not smooth. They had moved 12 times since the war began, half of those since they arrived in Germany. Wisam and Mwafak’s sister Manal arrived in October, terminally ill with cancer. These refugees, who were now safe from bombs and snipers, turned all their energy toward being together.

Listen to "Split by War, Syrian Siblings Reunite as Refugees in Germany" on NPR.