2023-09-02 15:18:36
I am strolling through the park at Festetics Castle in Keszthely, accompanied by Yvonne Cork, a 43-year-old author, designer and blogger.
The park is one of the places that Yvonne and her small family visit regularly since they were able to rent an apartment nearby. The family moved to Hungary just a few weeks ago, having decided two years earlier to leave Germany for Estonia. They rented an apartment near Tallinn and tried to start a new life.
Why did you leave Germany?
Germany was no longer safe enough for us. Uncontrolled immigration and politics have changed the country beyond recognition. In addition, children in German schools are deprived of independent thinking. The indoctrination of the youngest in society is already very advanced. If you love your children, you can’t want that!
Did your circle of family and friends share your views?
No, just the opposite! The conflicts within my family were difficult due to the different perspectives. I reject gendering, not least as a writer. I’m not the only one who sees the LGBTQ movement as a way of destroying normal society, an ideology we don’t want to follow.
The consequences of unlimited immigration from culture-unrelated countries are already clearly visible, but my family does not understand why we are opposed to taking in people who have no intention of integrating in Western Europe, who hate our way of life and look down on us.
“Germany was no longer safe enough for us. Uncontrolled immigration and politics have changed the country beyond recognition.”
But it was also the whole environment that didn’t want to believe my opinion and my research or didn’t want to accept my attitude, although I accepted their opinion. They preferred that I think like them, that is, not on my own. But that’s not my thing, so where would it all lead to? I couldn’t ignore the fact that it could sometimes cost me my job.
So conversations within the family were not possible?
Limited. It was like mainstream media: there was only one truth and unfortunately that wasn’t ours. It got really bad during the “pandemic” because we have a different opinion about Covid and “vaccination against Corona”. I have several siblings and they already have children, so family reunions were already a logistical challenge. Then came the supposed pandemic and the kids were practically cut off from each other.
The absurd regulations regarding family gatherings were observed by the relatives, but even if there were a few people who didn’t care about the regulations, it was to be expected that “law-abiding” neighbors would call the public order office. So it happened that we also celebrated children’s birthdays in winter as a picnic in the park.
During this time we experienced things that can safely be described as psychological terror, especially towards children.
Your departure began in September 2021. Was there a special reason for this?
There were several! In Germany, the “booster vaccinations” began, the child-taming with masks and tests was to continue, and the fear grew that children could be treated with mRNA injections without the consent of their parents. When the result of the federal election was foreseeable, we had enough. It was clear to us that with the Greens at the helm of the country, there would be no future for us at home.
How did you come across Estonia of all places?
It was important to us to have a safe country with a good education. Before we set off, we had contact with German and later with Russian families in Estonia. Your experiences made us feel positive and allowed us to make the decision.
In Estonia we went on vacation for a week in 2021 and found an apartment during this time. We were even able to take care of the first formalities at this point. Back in Germany we cleared out the three-story house we had rented and packed everything up. Because school was about to start, things had to be done quickly.
Estonia has its own foreign language. Didn’t that put you off?
No, we were all motivated to learn this language. According to the constitution, the Estonian language is the only official national language, especially in schools. But languages can be learned and we were confident that if we had to, we could manage with English. There was support for my children in kindergarten, at school and later for everyone at school additional intensive classes. This speeds up language acquisition.
I also took language lessons. I have successfully completed an A-1 course.
Yvonne Cork in front of Festetics Castle: “Hungary is the only EU country that doesn’t have the euro, is opposed to the war and is not willing to give up its sovereignty.” How was it for you in Estonia?
In summary I would say it was an interesting experience.
The nature in Estonia is fascinating, the Estonians show their national pride, but we didn’t really warm to them. We had the most contact with the Russian residents, although our children attended the local kindergarten and school.
Because I work a lot in the home office, so I didn’t necessarily have to go to the front door, it wasn’t possible to make any real contacts, also because Estonians aren’t really sociable people. It’s difficult with children, of course, because we know from Germany that children meet up in the afternoon.
How did you experience the beginning of the war?
There is a latent hostility between the Estonians and the Russians living there, although their share is 30 to 40 percent. But at least nobody said anything against the Russian language, like in Germany. Russian is even a compulsory subject from the 5th grade. Estonia was the first country that wanted to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine and asked Germany for permission. Just the thought of wanting to supply such outlawed weapons at all made one think twice… Russian flags are banned in Estonia. Creating peace between countries is not an issue at all! The country’s propaganda is fueling massive fears of Russia. It is even said that Putin wants to take back the Baltic States.
Why did you decide to leave Estonia again?
The negative things in our life became more and more. The cold – both that of the residents and the climatic (five to six months of heavy snow with a cold of around minus 20 degrees) – became more and more unbearable. In addition, there was a significant increase in the cost of living, in some cases above the German level.
When we arrived in Estonia, in Tallinn (if you lived directly there) you could still use all public transport for free. This will be canceled without replacement at the beginning of 2024. Other things will change from the beginning of 2024: Income tax will be increased by two percent, less money will be made available for families, and life as a whole will be significantly more expensive. The famous last drop in the barrel was the fact that the LBGTQ ideology also started to spread more and more in Estonia.
Why did you finally end up in Hungary of all places?
Hungary is the only EU country that doesn’t have the euro, is opposed to the war and unwilling to give up its sovereignty. Hungary is and will always be Hungary.
When it became clear that Estonia was not the alternative we had hoped for, we found out more about Hungary and contacted other Germans who were already living in Hungary. We actually wanted to spend a few days here on vacation, but then life got in the way and we just emigrated to Hungary without having seen the country beforehand.
Yvonne Cork writes baby books in several languages, children’s books and guides on various subjects. She has edited a coloring book and writes fantasy books. An emigrant book is currently in the works. She designs the books herself. She also designs company logos, T-shirts, covers for CDs and much more.
There is more information on her website yvonne-cork.com.
What are your plans for the future?
We want to integrate, i.e. learn the language and earn our living here on site. I am still working online for people who want or need to learn German or who have problems with German, writing books and designing in various areas.
I would like to offer German for foreigners locally in the near future and also support German-speaking children and young people in learning the German language.
We hope that Hungary will remain one of the last bastions against uncontrolled immigration, foreign infiltration and sick ideologies. After all, it is about the future of our children!
View of the Festetics Palace from the park side.
Other parts of the BZ series “Emigrated to Hungary”:
BZ Magazin 06/2021: Cabaret artist Detlev Schönauer
BZ Magazin 18/2022: Former local politician Christiane Wichmann
BZ Magazin 19/2022: Web designer and biographer Emily Paersch
BZ Magazin 20/2022: Health consultant Dorothea Heinzel
BZ Magazin 21/2022: Mother of two Conny S.
BZ Magazin 22/2022: Former police officer Klaus Kauder
BZ Magazine 01/2023: Marketing expert Viktor Végh
BZ Magazin 03/2023: Immigration Advisor Diana Bednar
BZ Magazin 06/2023: The Kittel family of craftsmen
BZ Magazin 09/2023: Hungarian teacher and translator Anna Berg
BZ Magazin 11/2023: The Scherer family
BZ Magazin 12/2023: The horse lovers Petra and Wilfried Böske
BZ Magazin 13/2023: Financial service provider Jürgen Schwarz
BZ Magazin 13/2023: Violinist Erwin Lindenbaum
BZ Magazin 14/2023: Holiday apartment providers Raquel and Philipp Wiech
BZ Magazin 15/2023: Civil rights activists Martina and Mick Schmidt
#Emigrate #Estonia #Hungary