Fathi and Hind are sitting in front of the television, watching images of destruction from Syria play in front of their eyes. The couple is far away from home in Motala - a small Swedish town of 30,000 inhabitants, 200 kilometers north of Stockholm.

At 74 and 70 years old, leaving Syria was not an easy choice for the couple. "We did everything we could to stay. We wanted to show that we were not going to flee. But it became impossible to live in those conditions," Hind recalls, sobbing.

Recalling her time in Syria, the mother of five children and grandmother of many nephews and nieces cannot hold back her emotions. Despite her efforts to suppress them, tears start rolling down her cheeks. She is dressed in a long back robe with red ornaments, seated next to her spouse who is trying hard to keep a straight face behind his tinted glasses. But as they speak, the harsh reality resurfaces. They have experienced war and lost everything. Now at an advanced age, they have to rebuild their life in Sweden.

Peaceful life in Syria

When the war began in 2011, Fathi and Hind were living a peaceful life in the Palestinian neighborhood of Yarmouk outside of Damascus. Both their parents had to flee from Palestine in 1948. "We saw our parents crying over Palestine, today we are crying over Syria. History is repeating itself," Fathi says, dismayed. His wife, who is lost in her thoughts, nods.

Fathi fought in the Syrian army in the 1970s after finishing the mandatory military service. After three years that included a leg injury, he returned to his job as a social science teacher at a public school in Damascus. Meanwhile, Hind took care of the children. After retirement, Fathi's restlessness forced him to continue. He wrote books about the wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Gaza. His personal story is also waiting to be put into words, he says.

Explosions beneath the windows

In 2012, the couple went to visit one of their daughters in Lebanon. During their trip, they received news that the Yarmouk camp had been bombed and their apartment had been destroyed. "We were lucky. If we had been home at that time, we would have died for sure," Hind explains. Despite the heavy bombarding, the couple did not consider remaining in Lebanon. They decided to return to the Damascus area and rent a new accommodation.

Months passed, the fighting intensified and the situation in the city deteriorated further. Prices skyrocketed. Hind says that they escaped death several times. "Life in Damascus had become a living hell. There were explosions every day, they reverberated beneath our windows. We had no choice but to flee on September 30 in 2014." Their children had already left years before.

They headed for the Turkish border by car, having to cross territories controlled by the "Islamic State" (IS). "We were very scared, but the soldiers of the IS let us pass without difficulties," Fathi recalls. After 24 hours, they reached the Turkish border. In Bodrum in the southwest of the country, the pensioners boarded a rubber boat with about forty other people. "It was night time and the sea was very rough. We were too many for such a small boat. We thought our life would end right there", Fathi explains. "The journey was very hard. At our age, we should not have to go through such trials", Hind adds.

'Adapting is difficult'

From Greece, the couple was able to take a flight to Sweden - with false Italian passports bought from a smuggler. Their destination was the town of Motala where one of their daughters had sought asylum years before. "The Swedes welcomed us with open arms and compassion. But adapting to the life here is difficult," Hind admits. In Syria, Fathi and Hind had been surrounded by their children, grandchildren and many friends. In Motala, only one daughter is close. For the couple, this is a radical change.

Yet, they manage their day to day routine. They receive a monthly payment from the Swedish state of 4500 Swedish crowns per person, an equivalent of 450 euros. Fathi and Hind can no longer imagine returning to Syria. They feel that life there will never be the same again.

"We lost so many friends and family members in the war. The country today is not the country we used to know - there is no place for us anymore", Fathi says full of emotion. In Sweden, they long for one thing: "to forget what we have lived through and live in peace."