Portrait of Gerard Chakmakjian

2023-06-14 22:33:00, Aktualitet CNA

Gerard Chakmakjian

Gerardi was 20 years old in the summer of 1990. A student in the first year of the Faculty of Geology-Mining in Tirana, he felt full of adrenaline and the conviction that things had "taken their way" even in isolated communist Albania. The rapid developments in the former Eastern Bloc had made all "eyes and ears" and the Albanians, as the popular discontent was boiling. Gerard had grown up in the capital, in a family of Armenian origin, but because his father and mother had inherited property titles, this for that absurd period was a "thorn" in his biography, which fueled a bad opinion of authorities for the Chakmakjians.

On the afternoon of July 2, 1990, it was not by chance that he was near the Block of Western Embassies, near the center of Tirana, where there were massive gatherings of citizens. Despite the addition of security forces and plainclothes agents, who exerted pressure to disperse the people, most of them found reason to get closer to the entrances and the surrounding walls of the diplomatic headquarters.

Refugees at the German Embassy, ??July 1990

"There were also curious people, but we were there with a purpose. I do not say that we had a clear conviction, as the situation was hazy and tense. News in the form of rumors passed quickly. Some said that embassies would be opened to receive those who wanted to flee to the west. Others spoke of danger, even head-on danger, because the police could retaliate against opponents of the regime and those who would not obey its orders. I remember the number of people growing every minute. When we learned about the crack in the back wall of the German embassy with a Skoda, we took heart and got closer. The line of policemen seemed to us to be Lilliputian and non-existent, as they too understood that people could not be stopped. Shots in the air, the effect of firearms, only a few meters away, did not affect unarmed people,

Gerardi remembers how, together with his childhood friend, Tan Berberi, also from a family that was persecuted and politically persecuted by Enver Hoxha's regime, they managed to penetrate the territory of the Embassy.

"Even today, I still remember the emotion of those moments: we were in a different reality, we had touched the dream. Not only our dream, but also that of family, friends and friends. Although in the territory of an embassy, ??we received threatening messages from the outside, which and they would take us out of there by force. But from the embassy staff, apart from the utmost care for everyone, we were given the guarantee that no one would be touched by the police forces and secret agents of the regime who were a few meters away."

Gerard entered the German embassy together with a childhood friend

Germany, space of concrete chances

Indelible for Gerard is the arrival in Germany, the difficulties of familiarization in an unimaginable space. English was a lifesaver in the first weeks, but the German language became indispensable for social, economic and cultural integration. "The treatment of the German authorities was with maximum attention for each of us, housing us in apartments, granting us a basic income for living, but also offering us from the first moments German courses, according to the level that everyone wanted to follow . Learning the language paves the way for us to engage in work. First I tried the pizzeria. I had a very busy day, I was busy for up to 15 hours. Dilemmas, insecurities, questions about the future disappeared in that way of life. After the first year I experienced the feeling of being in a space for concrete chances. I could work, I could study at the university, to find myself again after the interruption of studies in Tirana. We were young and full of energy and we were struggling to 'catch up on lost time', so we had to do many things at once".

In 1994, Gerardi moved to Cologne, where he completed a year of pre-university studies to convert his diploma, which paved the way for attending the University in Cologne. Choosing the branch of German studies, ethnology and philosophy was the first real challenge of life. "I had created a family, I had a son, a circumstance that did not allow me to break away from work. Following the branch that I had chosen with so much desire became impossible for me, so I decided to change the orientation of my studies. I had learned that in Germany the dual vocational education system was quite perfect and useful for German youth. So I reluctantly enrolled in a 3-year school for Business Administration. The regime that the German dual schools have, which alternates the curriculum with that of practice,

Portrait of Gerard Chakmakjian

The transfer of the German experience to Albania

Gerardi tells Deutsche Welle that after 2002 he started thinking about the possibility of returning to Albania. It was for an intermediate choice, to engage in both countries, to transfer the accumulated experience of more than a decade to the homeland. "My father in Tirana had prospered with a business in the field of teaching and didactic tools for schools. With my acquaintances and contacts in Germany, I was able to secure serious and quality suppliers. This pleased the customers in Albania more as the quality and standard of goods and service increased significantly.

On the other hand, we decided to reconstruct an early building in the middle of Tirana, owned by the family, and turn it into a hotel. These two work fronts were enough arguments for the choice made, to live between Germany and Albania. In the hotel I co-manage, we have more foreign hosts from Germany, but also from other countries. The experience and experience in Germany has strongly influenced me to look carefully at this business, aiming for stable indicators in customer service, and for this we have been evaluated by international institutions. In partnership with the German Chamber of Commerce in Albania, we try to be active, promoting cooperation between the two countries in business. The more Germans come to invest in Albania, the more certain is the country's economic transformation,

Gerardi does not hide the fact that the activity about two and a half decades after the decision to enter the German embassy on July 2, 1990 has been worth it for him personally, but also for his family.

"Although born in Cologne, my children, a 20-year-old son and a daughter 4 years younger, happily travel to Albania, speak perfect Albanian and have many friends. Let them decide for themselves where they will live and work. I'm really proud of that. 25 years ago, entering the German Embassy gave me this gift: to be free, to choose the offer that made me feel better. That's why I'm lucky that I followed the German dream, to be free"./ DW