Migration· 6 min read
Documenting migration from Turkey — what to preserve?
The first generation that came to Germany in the 1960s and 70s is growing older. With them disappear stories that appear in no history book. But these memories are precisely what your children and grandchildren will need to find their place in the world.
What makes family migration unique
Migration stories are not mere anecdotes. They carry phrases, smells, songs, humiliations, pride and longing. A shared language with parents and grandparents — even when they answer in Turkish and you respond in German — is often the only tool that still works in later years.
Questions you can ask
- What was the day like when you first saw Germany?
- Who picked you up at the train station or airport?
- How long did it take you to send your first letter home?
- What was the first German word you learned?
- What was the first thing in Germany you did not understand?
- Which dish from home did you cook yourself for the first time in Germany?
- How was Bayram in Germany different from back home?
What is especially worth recording
- Original voice messages in the language the story was lived in — Turkish, German or both.
- Photos of the first flat, the first job, the first journey back.
- Letters and telegrams if they still exist — a photo is enough.
- Songs or poems sung in moments of homesickness.
- Names of people who helped — neighbours, foremen, colleagues.
Why original audio matters especially here
A migration story loses substance when translated into perfect standard German. The accent, the place name with a Turkish pronunciation, the German word that appears in the middle of a Turkish sentence — that is the story. No written text and no AI voice can replace it.
Ready to capture your own family memory?
Three free questions — no credit card, no account password.