Ever since learning about deaf culture in Noah Buchholz’s class, a survey of American Sign Language, I have been interested in learning even more about deaf culture. From that class, I have learned that the strength of the deaf community is a force to be reckoned with. The concept of developing such a tight knit community among discrimination, hate, and othering is very empowering to me. The deaf community is also unique in that deaf culture is rarely shared within the nuclear family. Only 5-10% of deaf children have deaf parents, meaning deaf children are a part of this strong community that their parents and siblings are likely not a part of. Additionally, although deaf culture is different in different regions, deaf people across borders can still immediately connect over shared experiences such as trouble communicating with the hearing community, discrimination, misunderstanding, etc. The only other group I can think of with similar attributes is the LGBTQ community, where LGBTQ kids are often the only members of their family who are queer and develop queer culture.
There is an association in Berlin called Deaf Refugees Berlin, which I would like to do a feature piece on. I have already been in contact with someone who works at the company, who is waiting to hear back from her supervisor for permission to proceed and begin answering some of my questions. I also reached out to my ASL professor to see if he has any contacts with the deaf community in Berlin. He referred me to another Princeton professor who does have contacts in Berlin, but hasn’t been responsive to any of my emails.
There have been previous reporting on Ukrainian deaf refugees, as in 2022, the German government told deaf refugees from Ukraine that they need to relocate out of Berlin, away from each other, and away from supporting sign language interpreters. They were originally told to relocate because at the time, the government had a program to relocate refugees to other cities to avoid overcrowding Berlin. However, Berlin is a hub for deaf culture, with deaf schools, deaf sports programs for kids, etc, which a lot of other cities in Germany do not have. The German government eventually let the deaf people stay in Berlin.
InfoMigrants also created a short video (2 minutes), in 2024 highlighting Abbas Bazzi, who volunteers to teach refugees German Sign Language in Dresden Germany. They titled the short video, Double Language Barrier, and focused on the community that the lessons fostered, as well as explaining how the group helps form community.
The biggest issue will be the communication barrier since I do not know German or ASL, but I have been communicating with the community through written German so far, which can be a work-around to that issue. However, I hope to report on the experiences of deaf refugees in Berlin, and shed light on the very unique space that Deaf Refugees Berlin holds. This can help reveal insight on the lives of a refugee group that is underrepresented in the media.
