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From Raqqa on the Euphrates to Cologne on the Rhine - the arduous path from war and repression to freedom

Text excerpt:

"Two years later - I was now working at the Romano-Germanic Museum and was in the process of restoring one of the towers of the medieval Cologne city wall - several patrol officers suddenly rushed towards me and explained that someone had reported me as a terrorist. I just smiled at that too. A colleague from work later explained to me that I had to get used to such things, after all I was not only a foreigner but “also a Syrian”. So I smiled. I have no idea why people smile so much in times of war and soldiers, flight, dictators and right-wing extremists.

I promise to be a good refugee so everyone will accept me. One who eats pork, who gets drunk in the bars every day, who is against the building of mosques and for a headscarf ban, one who whitens black bodies and prevents black bodies from being on the streets, in schools and at universities another language is spoken than just one. And which gives many seats to the right in parliament and ministries.”

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Also available as an audio book!
Read by Thomas Roth

audio sample:

Article about Jabbar Abdullah in the Kölnische Rundschau