Surviving Yazidis find healing in friendship and mutual understanding
In Freiburg im Breisgau, in South-West Germany, Salah Khalaf Rasho puts fruit and tea on a table carefully laid out with meeting agendas and briefing papers.
A 21-year-old girl came to meet other Yazidi Women who were once considered slaves of the ISIS group.
Women have gathered here to discuss the establishment of a new organization, which they will lead together to assist other victims of genocide.
Ihlas Hidr, 19, was brought to Germany four years ago after she was enslaved in Syria.
"I love Germany, the German people. They have a lot of respect. What Germany has done for us, Yazidis no one has done,” she said.
Her eyes lit up as she explained how time spent with other Yazidi women in Germany had helped her in reabilitation.
“They're all very, very brave, " she said.
"What ISIS has done to us — rape, beating buy sale as cattle, not when we do not forget it. There's nothing left that they didn't do to us. We couldn't physically fight them, but we want to fight them legally to protect our rights and justice will prevail.”
Ms. Khalaf Rasho was brought to Mosul to be a slave to the ISIS militant, his wife and sons; she witnessed life under the ISIS group.
When Ms. Khalaf Rasho arrived in Germany just over a month after she escaped from slavery, she was deeply traumatized and was not sure if she wanted to return to her family after the shame of being in the hands of her abusers that she suffered.
"At that time, I needed my family emotionally. I couldn't speak German, and I didn't have any friends here,” she said.
For a year, she was in shock, unable to do anything for herself, afraid that she would never get better.
"Psychologically I was not good, even I forgot things.”
“Here at school we read about Germany's history of fascism and Hitler's genocide and saw how they controlled people step by step. IG did the same they were even worse than the Nazis,” she said.
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Surviving Yazidis find healing in friendship and mutual understanding
In Freiburg im Breisgau, in South-West Germany, Salah Khalaf Rasho puts fruit and tea on a table carefully laid out with meeting agendas and briefing papers.
A 21-year-old girl came to meet other Yazidi Women who were once considered slaves of the ISIS group.
Women have gathered here to discuss the establishment of a new organization, which they will lead together to assist other victims of genocide.
Ihlas Hidr, 19, was brought to Germany four years ago after she was enslaved in Syria.
"I love Germany, the German people. They have a lot of respect. What Germany has done for us, Yazidis no one has done,” she said.
Her eyes lit up as she explained how time spent with other Yazidi women in Germany had helped her in reabilitation.
“They're all very, very brave, " she said.
"What ISIS has done to us — rape, beating buy sale as cattle, not when we do not forget it. There's nothing left that they didn't do to us. We couldn't physically fight them, but we want to fight them legally to protect our rights and justice will prevail.”
Ms. Khalaf Rasho was brought to Mosul to be a slave to the ISIS militant, his wife and sons; she witnessed life under the ISIS group.
When Ms. Khalaf Rasho arrived in Germany just over a month after she escaped from slavery, she was deeply traumatized and was not sure if she wanted to return to her family after the shame of being in the hands of her abusers that she suffered.
"At that time, I needed my family emotionally. I couldn't speak German, and I didn't have any friends here,” she said.
For a year, she was in shock, unable to do anything for herself, afraid that she would never get better.
"Psychologically I was not good, even I forgot things.”
“Here at school we read about Germany's history of fascism and Hitler's genocide and saw how they controlled people step by step. IG did the same they were even worse than the Nazis,” she said.
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