A gymnasium in eastern Berlin, located along a four-lane road, provided their first home in Germany in November 2015. Each person was provided with a mattress on a steel bunk bed. Students, illiterates, computer scientists, craftsmen and junkies shared the space here, men from 14 countries. Some stayed for only a few days, others for up to 11 months, until the gymnasium was closed as an emergency shelter. What happened then?
Ahmad F., 31, of Syria, lives in a shared flat with other refugees. He worked in a carpet factory back in Syria. Thus far, he has completed the first two of six German course and he has found a job as a flooring installer.
Salah I., 28, of Syria, had studied to become an English teacher in his home country. In Berlin, he has a part-time, 450-euro-a-month job at a souvenir shop at Alexanderplatz, a square popular with tourists.
Amer A., 21, of Syria, lives in a shared flat. He speaks fluent German and is unemployed.
Hesham S., 46, of Iraq, speaks almost no German, has no work and no German friends.
Jihad A., 21, of Syria, has moved to Dortmund, where he works in construction.
Welie T., 21, of Eritrea, has moved to Kitzingen, a village near Würzburg, where he has found an apartment, but no job. He speaks little German. He would like to pursue a career as a cameraman.
Ahmad K., 29, of Syria, studied French back in his home country and worked as a fitness trainer. Now, he's looking for an apprenticeship as a sports and fitness clerk.
Carlos H., of Syria, is a Christian and established contact with a local parish, whose members helped him find an apartment. He works as a cook, has volunteered at a local youth club, done an internship at Siemens and wants to complete his university-prep high school degree at night school.
Esmail T., 31, of Syria, lives in a shared flat. He studied chemistry and is hunting for a job in his field. He is currently volunteering at a youth club.
Ali M., 21, of Syria, works in a bar and speaks little German.
Azizi N., 23, of Afghanistan, lives in a shared flat. He is taking a vocational preparation course to qualify for a formal vocational training program.
Ahmad A., 34, of Syria has found his own apartment. He has learned to swim and is active as a lifeguard with the Red Cross. For the last year, he has held a full-time job with a Berlin software company. He's now hoping that his wife -- a Kazakh national he met during his computer science studies in India -- and their son will be able to join him in Germany. They are both currently living in Kazakhstan.
Ward H., 24, of Syria, completed high school back home. He's looking for an apprenticeship as a dental technician in Berlin.
Ramez K., 28, of Syria, lives in his own apartment in eastern Berlin. He completed his schooling up to the 11th grade and is doing volunteer service at a youth club.
Ahmad H., 24, of Syria, works for a social institution that helps integrate people into working life. H. is mentally impaired and is provided with state care.
Anas B., 23, of Syria, speaks little German. He's not interested in further education or training and is instead seeking to find grounding in his faith and to connect with a mosque.
At the peak of the influx in 2015,two-thirds of all refugees were young men traveling alone. Between November 18, 2015, and October 19, 2016, 330 were provided with accommodations at the gymnasium. We spent months tracking them down. Helpers and social workers from the emergency shelter and officials with the Berlin State Office for Refugee Affairs (LAF) assisted with the research. In the end, we were able to ask 100 former residents what has happened to them since -- 100 of the 1.2 million refugees who fled to Germany in 2015 and 2016.
Mohammed K., a 29-year-old from Iraq, speaks German good enough to get by in everyday life. He spent two years studying pharmacology but is unemployed in Germany. Bodybuilding has become his primary focus and he also participates in tournaments.
Omid T., 30, from Iran, used to play in a band back home. He lives in his own apartment, speaks German very well and would like to become a sound engineer or computer scientist.
Ali A., 23, of Syria, works in construction.
Kenan B., 24, of Syria, lives in a shared flat. He's fluent in German and works as an applications engineer, but he has had difficulties connecting with his German colleagues.
Mahmoud A., 32, of Iraq, speaks little German and has a low-paying job at Amazon.
Majd J., 29, of Syria, lives in his own apartment. He was politically active as a student in Damascus, speaks very good German and is continuing his studies in economic sciences at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. He also works at a convenience store in a train station.
Mohamad J., 32, of Syria, lives in a shared flat. His German is very basic and he's unemployed. During the time he lived in the gymnasium, he completed an internship in a kindergarten.
Ezzat M., 27, of Syria, completed an economics degree in Syria. He now works for a security company, but he would like to receive business training.
Ahmad I., 25, of Syria, had to break off his studies in telecommunications technology because of the war. He moved to Kempten in Bavaria and is studying computer science at the University of Applied Sciences there. He speaks very good German and lives in a shared flat.
Azad R., 21, of Syria, lives in Frankfurt. He works in at a men's grooming salon.
Mohamad F., 38, of Syria, studied economics in Syria and Tokyo and is now taking an accounting course. He speaks fluent German. Despite considerable effort, he hasn't yet found his own apartment in Berlin.
Osama H., 25, of Syria, is training to become a mechatronic engineer.
This report is based on Zeit Online
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