Further Media
Once they arrived in West Berlin, the Nieske family was able to stay with relatives. Their days were occupied with the emergency reception process, which regulated who was granted official recognition as a refugee and therefore entitled to receive aid.
Christel Nieske remembers:
“As a kind of timetable, we received a process slip with a list of all the institutions we had to visit in a specified order. (...). We had to wait in line everywhere to get a number, and then again to not miss when the number was called. There were hundreds of people waiting in line, not only in the corridors but also through the stairwells and out into the street, regardless of the rain and cold. (...). Losing one's spot in line was the greatest worry, which is why the people made do during the day with sandwiches they had brought with them. And if someone left to go to the toilet, they could count on the others grumbling and complaining when they tried to come back.”