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Transit Camp Friedland - Part 1
For millions of people, arrival at the Friedland camp in Niedersachsen marked the beginning of a new life - or at least a respite from a life on the run. The British military government opened the camp for German refugees and returning soldiers in September 1945. Today, Friedland is a reception center for asylum seekers and refugees. Many have abandoned everything back home and risked their lives getting to Europe. We accompanied some refugees during their stay in the camp and also talked to people who came to Friedland in the early days. All had dramatic stories to tell. "When I meet children from Syria or elsewhere in Friedland today, I am always meeting myself,” says Annelie Keil, who arrived there as an eight-year-old child in 1947. How different are the feelings, experiences and aspirations of the people in this place where so many decades of escape stories intersect?