Objekt des Monats
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April 2018
Certificate of Status as a Contingent Refugee for O(E)lena Fridrih from 1993
Historical Context
On April 26, 1986, the worst accident in the history of nuclear energy occurs in the Soviet Union. A severe reactor incident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant leads to two explosions that destroy one of the four reactor blocks. Radioactive material is ejected into the atmosphere, contaminating large areas of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. A radioactive cloud also spreads across Central Europe. More than 300,000 people are evacuated from the immediate vicinity of the reactor. For physicist Elena Fridrih, living about 50 kilometers away in Kyiv, the accident and the subsequent threat of radioactive radiation evoke sheer horror and fear. She worries for the life and future of her children and feels deceived by the government, which withholds information from the public regarding the extent of the disaster. Desperately, Elena searches for a way to leave the country with her family. An opportunity finally arises in January 1991 – not due to the nuclear accident, but because her father is Jewish; from 1991 to 2004, the Federal Republic of Germany accepts Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union based on the Contingent Refugee Act. The certificate from the city of Gelsenkirchen from 1993 confirms Elena’s status as a contingent refugee.
Short Biography
Elena Fridrih is 44 years old when she learns from the newspaper “Komsomolskaja Pravda” that Jews and those with Jewish ancestry from the former Soviet Union are allowed to enter Germany as contingent refugees. She immediately applies for an exit permit for herself and her family. After lengthy and complicated formalities, it is accomplished: Elena, her husband Jurij, the children Andrij and Nadja, and their terrier Irik board a plane to Germany. In December 1992, just days before Christmas, the family lands in Frankfurt am Main. The first few days, the five of them spend in a refugee shelter in Unna, and then they are sent to a housing facility in Gelsenkirchen. The adjustment is not easy for the two academics and their children. Everything is foreign, and especially the German language initially poses difficulties for them. Elena and her husband attend a German course, but despite language progress and the fact that the diplomas of both physicists are recognized in NRW, they cannot find jobs. So Elena accepts the first offer she receives from the employment office and undergoes training as a caregiver. Eventually, Jurij must also come to terms with the fact that a university career in Germany seems out of reach. He gets a taxi license and earns his money from then on by transporting passengers. Today, both spouses are retired. They have never regretted their decision to move to Germany despite all the challenges. For Elena, the rescue of her children has always been the priority. Reflecting back, she says: “My children have grown into intelligent and critical people who know their opportunities and use them. Here, they can determine their own lives!”
Significance of the object
The document is proof of the status of Elena Fridrih, which enabled her entry into Germany and thus represents an important information source not only for current but also for future migration research. The reference to legal standing and law contained therein allows for the reconstruction of the entry modalities that existed at the time of issuance. Due to Elena Fridrih’s individual migration history, the certificate is also a personal memento. While Elena belonged to a discriminated minority in the Soviet Union because of her Jewish father, it was her father’s faith that ultimately allowed her, as a contingent refugee, to leave behind the fear and threat resulting from the nuclear accident. In Germany, she was able to offer her children not only a better but, above all, a safer future. For this, both she and her husband were willing to sacrifice a lot: careers, recognition, social networks.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de