We collaborated with Dickies to tell a story that is deeply personal to me, the story of my family and the Gastarbeiter generation.
My grandfather on my father’s side came to Germany in the early 1960s. He began working in the mines before later going to sea. His life was defined by hard work, distance, and the belief that through effort, a better future could be built.
My grandfather Şefki, on my mother’s side, followed in the early 1970s and worked at the shipyards in Bremen. He was part of a generation that left home with little but carried immense strength and dignity, building a life between two worlds.
My father lost his parents at a young age and entered a Gastarbeiter dormitory at eighteen. From that moment, he made himself a promise: that his children would grow up free and independent, able to pursue their own goals and dreams.