Aemon discovered a futbol jersey on a hidden rack. He held it up to himself and just stared, amazed. The other boys stood around with dropped jaws.The shirt was almost new, the proper size and best of all, it was a Deutschland jersey.
For many of today’s refugees, the German Dream is the new American Dream. They receive letters from relatives and friends saying that Germany is the place to find good work, safely raise a family, and experience prosperity without persecution. Our Yazidi friends here in Greece diligently attend their German lessons and learn about the country in their spare time. They wait in anxious anticipation for when their applications are accepted and they can leave their metaphorical 40-year wilderness for the promised land.
But Germany was not always welcoming of diverse religions and political orientations. In the 19th century, many well educated Germans fled the failed 1848 revolution. When arriving in America, they welcomed the political freedoms that dissolved the ceiling for individual aspirations. One of those German refugees, Stephen Ozment, said of the American Dream,
“The German emigrant comes into a country free from the despotism, privileged orders and monopolies, intolerable taxes, and constraints in matters of belief and conscience. Everyone can travel and settle wherever he pleases…The rich stand on the same footing as the poor; the scholar is not a mug above the most humble mechanics; no German ought to be ashamed to pursue any occupation…[In America] wealth and possession of real estate confer not the least political right on its owner above what the poorest citizen has. Nor are there nobility, privileged orders, or standing armies to weaken the physical and moral power of the people, nor are there swarms of public functionaries to devour in idleness credit for. Above all, there are no princes and corrupt courts representing the so-called divine ‘right of birth.’ In such a country, the talents, energy, and perseverance of a person … have a far greater opportunity to display than monarchies.”
Later, during World War II, over 340,000 the religiously persecuted Jews fled Germany’s borders. Roughly 84,000 of those refugees made their way to America to live out their dreams of freedom.
Fast forward again to today: Now, American’s borders are locking down, but Germany has swung wide open its doors to refugees. In 2015, Angela Merkel, Chancellor or Germany, welcomed in over 1 million displaced people. I find it so ironic that Germany was once the land of the persecuted; now, Germany is a refuge for the persecuted. Germany is the new American Dream.
Still for many, the German Dream will not be realized. I’m not sure if my Yazidi friends know that only about 25 percent of applicants are awarded entrance into Germany, with that statistic steadily dropping. The other 75 percent of refugees must wait until they are called up, placed in another country separate from family, or sent back to where they came from.
Despite those daunting statistics, to my friend Aemon, that Deutschland jersey is an iconic symbol of his future in a land of opportunity. I don’t know if Aemon will be among the lucky 25 percent of applicants this year, but I hope he keeps wearing that futbol jersey for Team Germany.
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