0:00:17.500,0:00:19.400
Behind us my country.

0:00:19.400,0:00:22.430
Everything that I am, was born there.

0:00:22.431,0:00:25.241
Everything that was homeland to me.

0:00:25.241,0:00:28.650
The playground where we played as kids.

0:00:28.650,0:00:30.869
The smile of my first love.

0:00:30.875,0:00:33.140
The apple tree near us in the park,

0:00:33.140,0:00:35.990
and the little lake hidden[br]behind the mountain.

0:00:35.990,0:00:38.349
The hot tea on the tin tray.

0:00:38.349,0:00:42.328
Wrinkled storytellers,[br]laugh lines adorning their faces.

0:00:42.328,0:00:45.038
Fooling around on the way[br]back home from school.

0:00:45.048,0:00:49.278
And nights waiting until our parents[br]fell asleep, then sneaking out again.

0:00:49.278,0:00:52.083
The creaks and squeaks[br]of my brother's bike,

0:00:52.083,0:00:55.951
Neruda's poems and the smell of wet grass.

0:00:55.951,0:00:59.390
Radios, the tortured sound[br]still retaining melodic tones.

0:00:59.390,0:01:02.340
My sister's singing in[br]the morning. My mother.

0:01:02.340,0:01:05.090
My mother with all her money worries.

0:01:05.090,0:01:07.950
And I don't know why: ladybirds.

0:01:07.950,0:01:09.680
All of this was once home to me.

0:01:09.680,0:01:12.310
All of this was once home to me.

0:01:12.310,0:01:14.520
But I could stay no more.

0:01:14.520,0:01:15.870
Behind us: the war,

0:01:15.870,0:01:18.010
the fresh grave of my parents,

0:01:18.010,0:01:20.469
the last grains of soil[br]still slithering down,

0:01:20.476,0:01:22.829
yet to find their final resting place.

0:01:22.830,0:01:26.750
So fresh is our grief.[br]Nothing is overcome.

0:01:26.750,0:01:28.770
I could stay no longer.

0:01:28.770,0:01:32.020
We were spoken of as doomed.

0:01:32.020,0:01:36.840
Our people forced into trains,[br]disappearing in the locos' smoke trails.

0:01:36.840,0:01:40.210
Our doors smashed,[br]shop windows shattered.

0:01:40.210,0:01:43.660
Our parents intimidated,[br]brothers and sisters persecuted,

0:01:43.668,0:01:46.728
and lurid news from friends,

0:01:46.728,0:01:50.551
those who were still there that is -[br]most had disappeared.

0:01:50.551,0:01:54.061
Staying was no longer an option,[br]not for a single day.

0:01:54.061,0:01:55.911
The next step in my city

0:01:55.911,0:01:57.760
was my last step in my country,

0:01:57.761,0:02:01.196
and the most horrid step then[br]on to this rusty boat.

0:02:01.199,0:02:04.040
That at first would heave and sway,[br]at first would carry us.

0:02:04.040,0:02:07.045
And then would sink,[br]dispersing us in the sea.

0:02:07.045,0:02:08.985
The sea so desolate,

0:02:08.985,0:02:11.485
the moon hiding behind the clouds.

0:02:11.485,0:02:12.802
The night so dark,

0:02:12.802,0:02:17.912
you see nothing, nothing for hours.

0:02:17.912,0:02:20.402
And when I close my eyes in the dark,

0:02:20.402,0:02:22.762
I hear my mother's voice.

0:02:22.762,0:02:24.812
All around us nothing but sea,

0:02:24.839,0:02:28.224
as if our boat were[br]the heart of all things.

0:02:28.230,0:02:31.140
I open my eyes and whisper to the heavens.

0:02:31.140,0:02:33.550
For prayers are the sails driving us.

0:02:33.550,0:02:36.120
Life jackets will take care of the rest,

0:02:36.120,0:02:38.425
only our hopes can they not bear.

0:02:38.425,0:02:40.335
A man swims up to me:

0:02:40.335,0:02:42.724
"Here, take him. I'm through.

0:02:42.724,0:02:46.734
He's a year old, and his name's Bassem."

0:02:46.734,0:02:50.929
So I became a father for the first time.

0:02:50.929,0:02:54.879
In the sea. The handover.

0:02:55.289,0:02:59.689
The man with the life jacket[br]gave me his descendant as heir.

0:02:59.689,0:03:04.891
Arrived in exile, I quickly learned[br]that the most important words

0:03:04.891,0:03:10.561
are "residence permit",[br]"sorry" and "thanks".

0:03:10.577,0:03:15.517
Arrived in exile, I saw a family[br]united after a long time.

0:03:15.517,0:03:19.748
How the father wailed in happiness,[br]silently and from deep within,

0:03:19.748,0:03:23.188
with all the shame[br]of someone who seldom weeps.

0:03:23.188,0:03:27.805
I followed the family step by step,[br]but only with my eyes.

0:03:27.805,0:03:29.345
Arrived in exile,

0:03:29.345,0:03:33.011
but home soil is carried with us[br]on the soles of our feet.

0:03:33.011,0:03:36.511
For I am from there and I have memories.

0:03:36.511,0:03:39.744
I was born, as people are born:

0:03:39.744,0:03:41.814
I have a mother who loves me.

0:03:41.814,0:03:43.196
It breaks my heart:

0:03:43.206,0:03:44.896
in the letters she wrote,

0:03:44.906,0:03:47.793
I can see how, in writing,[br]her hand trembles.

0:03:47.804,0:03:51.206
When I now say homesick,[br]I'm speaking of a dream,

0:03:51.210,0:03:54.292
for my old home is hardly anymore.

0:03:54.304,0:03:57.494
And if we stay here,[br]we'll become like the beach,

0:03:57.494,0:04:00.724
not quite sea and not quite land.

0:04:00.724,0:04:03.924
And if we stay here,[br]we'll become like the beach,

0:04:03.935,0:04:06.185
not quite sea and not quite land.

0:04:06.185,0:04:09.405
Arrived in exile,[br]an army welcomes me,

0:04:09.405,0:04:11.785
the other army raises a foreign flag.

0:04:11.785,0:04:15.325
Sometimes you sense love,[br]sometimes you sense hate.

0:04:15.335,0:04:17.017
They look at you in your headscarf,

0:04:17.023,0:04:18.163
at me and my passport.

0:04:18.163,0:04:21.084
Habibi [darling], don't get angry[br]with them, forgive them,

0:04:21.084,0:04:24.039
they forgot love,[br]they forgot the Bible,

0:04:24.039,0:04:25.435
wish them peace.

0:04:25.435,0:04:29.435
Rather, show them we're the type[br]ready to stand up again.

0:04:29.435,0:04:32.135
Pull our legs from under us,[br]and we go on our hands!

0:04:32.135,0:04:35.505
Pull our legs from under us,[br]and we go on our hands!

0:04:35.505,0:04:39.695
Let's make the most of our lives,[br]to the ends of our lives.

0:04:39.695,0:04:40.985
And, who knows,

0:04:40.985,0:04:45.505
maybe I will return home one day,[br]and not everything will have changed.

0:04:45.505,0:04:47.925
Maybe I will see our old apple tree,

0:04:47.925,0:04:50.985
or the playground[br]behind the rust-brown fence,

0:04:50.985,0:04:54.425
and I will hug my brothers and sisters,[br]and I will kiss my mother,

0:04:54.425,0:04:58.175
and joy will bite[br]with its little tooth in my heart.

0:04:58.175,0:05:00.605
My name is Ahmed Yusuf,[br]father of Bassem,

0:05:00.605,0:05:01.944
and I am a refugee.

0:05:01.959,0:05:03.685
I fled Syria.

0:05:03.685,0:05:07.285
My name is Daniel Levy,[br]and I am a refugee.

0:05:07.285,0:05:08.985
I fled Germany.

0:05:08.985,0:05:11.695
The year is 2015.

0:05:12.022,0:05:14.502
The year is 1938.

0:05:14.889,0:05:17.029
(Music)

0:05:18.169,0:05:20.161
(Applause)

0:05:39.249,0:05:40.929
Thank you very much.

0:05:40.929,0:05:42.238
Thank you very much.

0:05:42.238,0:05:45.738
We are Babak and Usama.[br]We are from RebellComedy in Germany.

0:05:45.738,0:05:47.618
And we wrote this poem for everyone

0:05:47.618,0:05:52.367
who had to leave behind his home,[br]his country, his family, his beloved ones.

0:05:52.506,0:05:53.809
And we hope

0:05:53.977,0:05:58.802
that this poem can contribute[br]to more tolerance towards refugees,

0:05:58.802,0:06:01.242
because maybe one day we all need help.

0:06:01.242,0:06:03.014
And let's be more tolerant.

0:06:03.016,0:06:05.339
AY: Thank you.[br]DL: Thank you very much. Have fun.

0:06:05.360,0:06:07.450
(Applause)