00:00It was really hard, because it was not a normal life.
00:03Mithat Özdemir came to Germany as a guest worker in 1966. He was 18 years old.
00:10We came to work, but no more.
00:14We had only two screws in eight hours. That was all, for months.
00:22Like him, more than 860.000 Turkish workers came to Germany between 1961 and 1973.
00:30Germany needed labor as its post-war economy took off and signed a recruitment deal with Turkey.
00:37The arrangement was meant to be temporary. Those who came met with tough working conditions, language barriers and shared housing.
00:46Then you can ask yourself why so many people can handle it.
00:52It was a bit planned for them, for certain years to live and back.
00:58But in this early age, it was a whole life.
01:03But they didn't plan it. It was like that for me.
01:07Mithat Özdemir went to school while working in the factory, studied and later launched his own business.
01:13He also met his wife here. She was an electrician and came to Germany at just 19.
01:19Her advice for success is simple.
01:22Always work. Don't look behind it. Always look at the front.
01:27The Özdemir's raised four children here, but not without obstacles.
01:31The language, the culture, long work hours, no family support.
01:36I'm definitely thankful for my parents.
01:39For everything they did.
01:41They had a very hard, steep path.
01:45But we didn't have to live everything.
02:13The family calls Germany home, but they say they also feel Turkish.
02:16It's a life between two cultures.
02:19Mithat wants people to finally recognize this as part of Germany's reality.
02:34In this garden, his two cultures intersect. A plot of German land, with plans for the
02:41In this garden, his two cultures intersect. A plot of German land, with plans for the
02:53fruits and fruits and fruits, that remind him of his Turkish roots.
02:58It's hard to accept for someone who doesn't have this feeling.
03:04I have it. I have it. I have it.
03:08They are both my home. I fight for them.
03:12I am rich because I have two homes.
03:17He's retired, but Mithat Özdemir has no plans to stop working.
03:22He's built a workshop to sell his honey.
03:25As I started here, this speed will continue.
03:30And it will probably go to death until I die.
03:33So long as I have the power to work, I want to stay there.
03:40I want to stay there.
03:41I want to stay there.
03:42Stay here and stay there.
03:42Shabbat you are home.
03:43Stay znaj Although, you're somewhere else, you're somewhere else.
03:43Stay here to me.
03:43Stay here at the proper time.
