Hi there my Hivean friends and followers!
I don´t even know how to start this freewrite. What began like a common day for me yesterday ended up being one of the most emotional experiences of my life. As many of you know, I ´m currently based in Krakow, Poland and since it´s not so far from my Czech hometown of Opava, I go there like every month or two to see my family and friends and stay with them for a few days...
I usually go by bus or by train. There was no convenient bus connection for me yesterday so I went for the train. Little did I know that the train that I was about to hop on was one of these "refugee specials" going from the Polish city of Przemysl on the Polish-Ukrainian borders through Krakow to the Czech Republic. Soon after I got on the train at the Krakow main train station, I realized what was going on. The train was packed with hundreds of Ukrainian war refugees who just escaped from the living hell and were on their way to safer places in Europe.
Image source: ukraine.ua
Now don´t get me wrong. I do follow the news and all the updates on the events in Ukraine every single day, almost every hour when I am awake. For us, the Czechs, this affair is extremely sensitive because the Russian Army was occupying our country for more than 20 years (from 1968 to 1989). Therefore, we do follow the events in Ukraine very closely and we know way too well what is going on there. Still, however, seeing this tragedy in media is one thing but when you get to see these people with you own eyes, when you get to talk to them, listen to their stories, see what they have been through in their faces... It´s a completely different level of realization how bad it actually is.
What I saw was absolutely exhausted, desperate, heartbroken, scared, hungry people most of whom were already on the road and / or foot for at least 3 days with little to no sleep and food. I would say that about 90% of the refugees were mothers with kids. You could see some great relief in their faces too of course as they just managed to get their kids out of the horrendous war but their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers and other family members and friends had to stay in Ukraine so the women´s feelings must have been very mixed.
The ticket collectors offered us, the "non refugees" to move to the first class carriage so that we don´t have to crowd together with the Ukrainians but of course I didn´t have the heart to do that. I didn´t even try to get to my reserved seat when I saw who was on the train, I was glad that someone who has just been through so much pain and suffering could rest on it. Eventually, I spent the whole journey from Krakow, Poland to Ostrava, Czech Republic (it was almost 5 hours because of multiple delays) right with the refugees, giving them all the food that I was carrying from Poland, helping the poor moms with their baggage (they had many heavy bags and suitcases into which they pretty much had to pack their entire lives), translating and interpreting everything they didn´t understand and needed to know, "coordinating" their connecting trains and basically kind of trying what a humanitarian volunteer job is about. During all of this, I heard so many horrible, tragic and heartbreaking stories from them that it will surely take me some time to fully absorb this extreme emotional load.
And yet, these were actually the "luckier" refugees who were on their way to some friends or relatives (some stayed in Poland and in Ostrava, some were heading to Prague, others to Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Hungary... depending on where they know someone willing to accommodate them). The less "lucky" refugees had to stay at the refugee centers at the borders. The really unlucky ones didn´t make it out of Ukraine at all. They are still there, hiding in bunkers, basements, subway stations etc., just praying, hoping and doing their best to survive.
I know it´s probably needless to write this because I think that everyone has already helped in one way or another but I really wish we all do everything we can to support the people of Ukraine on every level possible. Those who have managed to get out the country as well as those who are still there, hiding or fighting. The people of Ukraine need and deserve the utmost help, support and solidarity from all of us. They did nothing wrong. Their only "fault" was that they were born in a place that one mighty unscrupulous psychopath wants to own. I hope he never will. I hope the heroic people of Ukraine will win this battle. As I mentioned in my fundraising post, it´s important to remember that the Ukrainians are not fighting just for themselves and their freedom. They are fighting for all of us.
Thank you.
Слава Україні! Glory to Ukraine!
PS: You know my blog is usually highly visual with photos being an important part of it but this time, I didn´t take any. I just didn´t have the heart to do that. But I will always keep those scenes in my memory...
Czech / Česky:
Nebudu překládat tento anglický text, který jsem napsal až s denním odstupem, ale nasdílím sem to, co ze mě vypadlo na FB hned včera, když jsem se dostal domů. Z větší části je to stejně totéž...
Chtěl jsem počkat, až emoce trochu opadnou, ale musím se podělit o svůj dnešní zážitek a zkušenost s ukrajinskými uprchlíky. Shodou okolností jsem dnes dopoledne v Krakowě přisedl na "uprchlický speciál", který přepravoval stovky ukrajinských uprchlíků z Přemyšle na polsko-ukrajinských hranicích dál do Evropy. Když to všechno vidíte v médiích, je to hrozné. Ale když to pak vidíte naživo, mluvíte s těma lidma, posloucháte jejich příběhy, díváte se jim do tváře, je to úplně jiný level... Zoufalí, vyděšení, vyčerpaní, špinaví, hladoví lidé z nichž většina byla na cestě už minimálně tři dny (jen na hranicích prý čekali 24-48 hodin). Tak z 90% se jednalo o matky s dětmi. Samozřejmě na nich byla vidět i obrovská úleva, že dokázaly své děti dostat do bezpečí, ale jejich manželé, partneři, bratři, tátové a další členové rodiny, tam museli zůstat, takže to byly hodně smíšené pocity... Průvodčí nám "neuprchlíkům" nabídli, že můžeme jít do první třídy a nemačkat se tam s nimi, ale na tom jsem fakt neměl srdce, takže jsem celou dobu (nakonec z toho bylo kvůli různým zpožděním skoro pět hodin) zůstal mezi nimi, rozdal jim všechno jídlo, co jsem vezl z Polska, pomáhal se zavazadly (většina těch maminek měla několik kufrů a tašek, do kterých si narychlo musely sbalit tak nějak celý svůj život, že), dělal překladatele a tlumočníka na polských i českých nádražích a celkově si tak trošku vyzkoušel práci humanitárního pracovníka. Během té doby jsem si vyslechl tolik strašných příběhů, že budu tu emocionální nálož asi ještě nějakou dobu vstřebávat... A to byli prosím ještě ti štastnější uprchlíci, kteří někam za někým jeli (někteří vystoupili už po cestě do Ostravy, jiní mířili do Prahy, další na Slovensko, do Německa, do Maďarska apod., prostě podle toho kdo má kde nějaké známé nebo příbuzné). Ti méně šťastní zůstali v uprchlických centrech na hranicích a ti ještě méně šťastní se z Ukrajiny nedostali vůbec, jsou tam schovaní v bunkrech a čekají, jestli to přežijou nebo ne. Vím, že je asi zbytečné to psát, protože každý už určitě nějakým způsobem pomohl, nebo vyjádřil podporu, ale fakt vás prosím, udělejme každý, co je v našich silách, aby se těmto lidem dostalo maximální možné pomoci a solidarity. Jsou to obyčejní lidi jako my, kteří prostě jen měli tu smůlu, že se narodili tam, kde se jeden psychopat snaží násilím získat něco, co mu nepatří a pevně věřím, že nikdy nebude…
Díky.
This post was created by me for the Hive blockchain exclusively. All rights reserved.
Klobouk dolů, že si jim ukázal podporu. Vypadá to možná jako samozřejmost, ale vim jak snadný je dělat, že něco člověk nevidí/nechce vidět nějakýho trpícího člověka "překročit". Sám jsem toho byl ostatně svědkem, byť v úplně jiný situaci...
Mimochodem jsem jeden takovej příběh člověka, co se snažil dostat z Ukrajiny sledoval "v přímým přenose" na Instagramu, kam dával pravidelně stories. Handbalancer ze Cirque de Soleil se snažil s rodinou dostat do Polska už během toho, co měli muži zakázáno vycestovat. Jemu se to teda i s rodinou povedlo, protože mají zelenou kartu, takže je pustili všechny. Ale ta cesta musela bejt pekelná. V podstatě bez jídla, narvaným busem na hranicích, kde strašně dlouho čekali a kde se v jednu chvíli podle jeho slov i střílelo. Na Ukrajině tuším musel nechat bratra...
Já věřím, že tak, jak jsem to včera cítil já, by to cítila většina lidí. Ty malé děti ve špinavých teplákách s hračkama v rukách, to by prostě obměkčilo každého. A to víš, že se díváš jen na špičku ledovce a ani si nechceš představovat, co prožívali před pár dny, o kolik příbuzných a kamarádů přišli, nebo ještě přijdou apod. Prostě totální lidské neštěstí a zkáza. V takovou chvíli bys ses pro ty lidi prostě rozdal. Já ve finále neudělal skoro nic, jen to málo, co mě napadlo a co šlo...
Ta cesta přes hranice musela a musí být naprosto šílená. Většina z těch, se kterýma jsem mluvil, to šla pěšky. Desítky kilometrů na hranici a tam čekaní den až dva, až na ně vyjde řada. To vše se všema těma kuframa, taškama, dětma, zvířatama...
No ty vole, pěšky... nepředstavitelný.
You're a good person, helping every way you can. God bless you!
There was not much I could do for them on the train except those few little things... I hope they all found some nice, friendly and safe place to stay. I will remember that train ride for the rest of my life. Thanks for reading the story Erika :)
This is how history is written and I wish we would have different type of history written, not another war.
Yes, you will remember that ride for the rest of your life, unfortunately and so will they, even more unfortunately. Be proud of yourself that you did everything that you could for them.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us :)
It's tough man. How things change rapidly. In 2018 I did this same path and the world was all peaceful, no corona, no war... and now this. Let's pray for this madness to end.
Yeah, incredible how drastically the world has changed in such a short time...
Refugees from Ukraine can now use around 40 international long-distance trains to travel to Germany from Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic.
All you have to do is show your passport, Deutsche Bahn reports. It applies to long-distance and local journeys to any destination throughout Germany, but also to journeys on the ICE, TGV or Thalys trains to Denmark, Belgium, France and trains to Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United States Switzerland and in Eurocity trains to Italy via the Brenner.
Yeah, I know. The train from Poland was also free of charge for them. They need to feel everywere that they are welcome and supported in Europe, no matter where they decide to go.
Definitely at this time,they need the whole world behind them
Absolutely and literally. Thanks for stopping by.
@tipu curate 5
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/15) Liquid rewards.
Thanks Andy!
Uf, to musel být silný zážitek…
Byl. Cestu z Ostravy do Opavy si ani nepamatuju. Jsem poměrně sensitivní člověk a takový nával emocí se mnou dost zacloumal.
A humanitarian plight again after many years in 21th century. Unfortunately, nothing has changed, we could not progress upward, but backward. Humanity have seen this before, we know the culprit, it is the imperialism. A game is being played, one side has made the other side attack. For me, Russia=NATO=EU=USA.
I can see just one culprit here. One bitter unscrupulous malicious greedy psychopathic egomaniac called Vladimir Putin.
We should see the big picture.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3416546-brazil-to-introduce-humanitarian-passport-for-ukrainian-refugees.html
The link doesn´t work. But thanks, the title sounds good ;)
Thanks for sharing your personal experience thru the story. Yes there was no picture and I totally get it. If it was me, I wouldn't have the heart to take any either, or want to see more visuals of their sufferings. Sending prayers to Ukraine and its people!
Yeah, that was why I didn´t take any photos. Unlike some reporters and photographers that I saw in Krakow. But it´s a part of their job. Peple should know what´s happening and photos often say more than words... Anyway, thanks for stopping by and for praying for Ukraine.
Česko už vraj poslalo na Ukrajinu aj konvoj s humanitárnou pomocou: