The big interview

Are you returning to Syria now, Mr. Alibrahim?

Aboud Alibrahim (31) came to Austria in 2015 and is now a German teacher in Linz.(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

He is one of 100,000 Syrians who have built a new life in Austria since 2015. Aboud Alibrahim (31) talks to Conny Bischofberger about the "mass murderer Assad", values and feelings of home, the Austrian social system and the fondest wish of his almost 70-year-old father.

He stands at the open window of his 50-square-metre apartment in Linz's old town and waves from afar. We are old acquaintances, Aboud Alibrahim and me. The Syrian refugee lived with us for ten months after arriving in Austria. Up on the third floor, the smell of strong, black tea wafts towards me, which we later drink sitting on the carpet with lots of sugar, as is customary in his home country.

Three snow-white British shorthair cats keep us purring company. The mother is called "Sajtouna", which means "olive" in Arabic, her two kittens "Qarniya" (eyeball) and "Ruqaa" (spot). We are on a first-name basis and his German really is as perfect as it reads.

As we stroll through the Christmas market later, he tells me that his employer is also having to make savings due to the tight economic situation. "I hope I can keep my job," says the German trainer thoughtfully. But in the next moment, his worries have vanished and he is beaming all over again. His joy at the historic events in Syria prevails.