Updated: 28.04.2022, 07:55 | Reading Time: 4 minutes
ALTENBOCHUM. When the war reached their city, the family fled Ukraine. In Bochum, they start anew. This April Fool’s joke was made by her hosts.
At four o’clock in the morning, the siren roars through Chernihiv – and rouses the Nahornov family from their sleep on February 24, 2022. This was the beginning of the journey for the family of five from northeastern Ukraine all the way to Bochum, as reported by eldest son Nikita Nahornov (17). He is sitting in the living room of the Nahornovs’ new apartment in Altenbochum.
At 4 o’clock in the morning the journey to Bochum suddenly started
“It’s reality,” had been his first thought when the sirens woke him up. After an initial moment of confusion, his parents, father Serhiy (45) and mother Yana (38), had begun to come up with a plan to get their family to safety. “We had our suitcases half packed,” the two reported. In the days before, teachers at their children’s school had already given advice on how to proceed in the event of an escape. But until the very end, Serhiy and Yana Nahornov had hoped that there would be no outbreak of violence.
When the sound of detonations also started 10 minutes after the sirens that Thursday morning, the Nahornovs quickly got into their car and headed west with their three children and their cat. On their journey – away from the contested areas as quickly as possible – they repeatedly stopped in Ukrainian towns along the way, but left them again after a few days, Nikita reports. The scariest part of the trip, he says, was “hearing the missiles flying overhead and not knowing where they would land.”
After a stopover in Wroclaw, Poland, the family finally arrived in Düsseldorf. “We were accommodated there in a house with ten people – that was much too cramped,” says Nikita, “so we found a family from Bochum through the website ‘Warm Bed’ who took us in.” So the Nahornovs finally arrived in Bochum on March 16.
According to Nikita, they found true friends in the Bochum family, who are also sometimes in a joking mood. On April 1, the host family told the Ukrainians that German television would film them having dinner. When the Nahornovs sat at the table all stiff and smartly dressed, the hosts broke up the joke. The family of five can still laugh about that.
The family intends to continue to stay in Bochum
Last Thursday, April 21, the Nahornovs were finally able to move into their own apartment in Altenbochum. The Ukrainian family plans to stay in Bochum for the time being and to integrate into society, according to the parents. Teenager Nikita has been doing the translating for his family so far – he had German lessons at school for three years. But the whole family is now making an effort to learn German, he reports. His parents, Serhiy and Yana, are now taking a German course to find a job.
Their two sons, Nikita and Arseniy (12), now attend the Graf Engelbert School, while the youngest, Polina (8), goes to the Lina Morgenstern School. According to Nikita, starting school was particularly difficult for Polina because she does not speak German. However, the 17-year-old emphasizes that people at the school are very helpful and accommodating. Teachers and classmates have made an effort to communicate with her using a translator app on her smartphone.
Father Serhiy says his family is very grateful for the help they have received so far on their journey. What the Ukrainian refugees in Bochum need most now, Nikita adds, is understanding and friendship.
INFO Getting started in the German language
“In the first few weeks, the adjustment to speaking German all the time was very difficult and exhausting,” says Nikita. But as time goes on, he notices that it’s becoming more comfortable and easier to keep up. He says his German has gotten much better in a short time.
A big help at school are his friends, who also speak Ukrainian, the 17-year-old reports. “She always answers my questions and explains everything I don’t understand,” says Nikita. Polina has also found a Ukrainian-speaking friend who has helped her a lot in her first day at school.