Vassilis Charalambous, who moved to Austria for studies in the early 1960s and has remained there ever since, spoke about his personal story on the Voice of Greece radio program “Our Global Voice” with Dimitris Kontogiannis.
He described the way of life of Greek students at the time, recalling how trains would bring food parcels from their families in Greece. He also noted that one drachma was equal to one schilling—the Austrian currency at the time—and that with 1,000 drachmas a student could live comfortably.
Like many other students studying in Graz, he was able to find work easily, either in Austria or in other countries such as Germany and Sweden, in order to earn money. He pointed out that in Sweden, students did not pay taxes, even though taxation for other workers was high. He also emphasized that Austrians are generally well disposed towards Greeks and that he never personally experienced discrimination.
Mr Charalambous further observed that in recent years a number of young Greek men and women—mainly working in the hospitality sector, as well as some professionals—have moved to western Austria for work. However, he is unsure whether they come on a seasonal basis and then return to Greece, or settle there permanently.