Teacher of the Syriac language
From Midyat in Turkey to Germany and then to Sweden, my ninety years have passed – years filled with changes and shifting fates.
From Midyat in Turkey to Germany and then to Sweden, my ninety years have passed—years filled with changes and shifting fates. Yet every period of my life has had its own beauty and its own memories, sometimes bright and sometimes marked by sorrow.
I remember Midyat. I was no more than five years old when I saw my family subjected to threats and hardships. In the end, my parents managed to save themselves and me. It was then that the decision was made to leave the country and seek a new life elsewhere. I wrote my name among those who wanted to save themselves from the death that hovered above our heads like a dark bird.
Two years after I registered to emigrate to Germany, the notice arrived. The year was 1968, and our journey began. It was long and arduous, taking us from Midyat to Diyarbakır, Ankara, and Istanbul, and from there on to Munich and Hanover.
In Germany, I worked at a plastics factory. I stayed there until 1976, when I left Germany and moved to Sweden.
In Motala, I took my first steps in my new life in Sweden. There, I began working as a teacher of the Syriac language. Later, I moved to Södertälje, where I continued my work in education.
I enjoyed my work very much. I had the opportunity to teach at various schools and meet many children and young people. In hindsight, I think that perhaps it was precisely this work that became an important part of the struggle to preserve our mother tongue—our language, our history, and a part of our cultural heritage.
Now that I have turned ninety, I think of my city, Midyat, every day. I feel a deep longing for it. It has been twenty years since I last visited my hometown, but through my children and grandchildren, I have still been able to maintain a connection to it. I have sent them there to visit the places that still live on in my memory.
As for myself, I continue to live out my years here in Sweden—the country that welcomed me, gave me safety and opportunities, and has become an important part of my life.
For this reason, I feel a deep gratitude and appreciation for this beautiful country, which once became my new home.
