AOn the way east, via the Polish highway, the war is getting closer and closer. Ukrainian flags are fluttering out of car windows, the phone number for Ukraine Aid is glowing on display panels, and the question is being asked on the car radio: What can be done about fear? A moderator explains how the listeners can clear their heads: “We ourselves are safe, it affects our neighbors. It’s none of our business.” Psychologically, the advice may sound conclusive, but in political reality it comes across as adventurous. The attack on Ukraine has shaken the Poles, and their almost limitless willingness to help shows that they have taken on the cause without hesitation.
Saturday evening in Przemysl, in the foothills of the Carpathians, a good ten kilometers from the Ukrainian border, 60,000 inhabitants, an important traffic junction between east and west. In normal times, the small main hall of the pretty Gründerzeit train station would be worth a tourist look, but nobody cares about the murals. In every corner, in every aisle, people, women and especially children, are squatting amid their bags and bags with the things that are most important to them, and people are constantly pushing in and out of the doors.
Anyone who has just arrived here is asking themselves: Where can I go now? And if I know my goal, how can I achieve it? And it will help. From people in yellow or orange vests who are police officers, firefighters or boy scouts, from tireless volunteers who patiently listen to Ukrainians, steer them through the crowd to the ticket office or to the waiting buses, provide them with food, hygiene items and even prams and plates Serve with warm soup. “You’re safe here!” promises a bilingual poster on the platform. A waiting room is reserved for women and children. People hold up signs offering rides, sleeping accommodations, or both. In addition to the Poles, there are also foreigners among them: “Free Ride to Luxembourg”, “Free transport to Sweden, house for six people”.
Much is different with the new wave of refugees
If you don’t want to go that far, you could ride with Kamil and his father, who are offering a few rooms near Kraków for three months. Like so many others, they spontaneously left for Przemysl, and an assistant took a picture of Kamil’s ID. The young woman standing next to her with the baby in her arms still looks skeptical. It is only gradually dawning on father and son that a team of men does not necessarily inspire confidence in the Ukrainian women. “I should have shaved beforehand,” jokes Kamil’s bearded father. After four and a half hours of waiting, the two will set off on their journey home, taking four people with them to Kraków, but not to the accommodation offered. It was not only the sex of the benefactors that deterred those who were interested, but also the three months: Most were only looking for a place to sleep for a day or two. More than a million people have crossed the borders into Poland since Putin attacked Ukraine; many have already moved on, others want to bridge the time until a return seems possible.
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