How long did it take you to decide to go to the border with Ukraine?
My wife and I decided during the evening and left in the morning. The condition was that we would go by van to make it worthwhile, and thanks to our friends we managed to get it within ten minutes. We knew that if anyone we brought needed accommodation, we had him. So when we woke up on Saturday morning, we loaded up and left.
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You went with your wife Anna. Was she decided right away to take part in this mission?
She came up with the idea. She wanted to know my opinion, and it seemed like a perfect idea. And I thought it was because someone got a warm jacket, socks or milk, and we didn’t have time to read the news for two days.
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You went to the Slovak-Ukrainian border. How did you choose the place?
We were originally directed by a group of young people who got together and went to the border with a few vans. To this day, they coordinate help from the Czech Republic and help themselves. Along the way, I called a friend in Košice and he connected me with the Slovak coordinator at the Vyšná Nemecká crossing.
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We communicated, I got a list of things to bring, and because we had this particular contact, we went there.
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It’s really important to be arranged or in touch with someone. Otherwise, one may end up in a parking lot and reach the border at all.
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Along the way, you bought humanitarian aid, to which other people also contributed. How much money did you get?
We also organized the collection on the way home. Perhaps on the border with Slovakia. We gave the target amount of twenty thousand crowns to complete the delivery and import as many things as possible. When we arrived in Košice, there were a little over one hundred and fifty thousand. Of course, we weren’t able to spend that in two hours, so we left fifty-three thousand there.
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By the second day, less than four hundred thousand CZK had been collected. I don’t understand, but such a huge amount has really been collected in such a short time. It’s a big responsibility, so now we’re shipping a supply of medical supplies, we’re talking about baby mattresses, possibly a caravan with a shower, we simply want the money to get to the place we promised as soon as possible.
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What was the situation at the border?
There was chaos on the spot. No wonder. A lot of people gathered there, some waiting for specific Ukrainians, but they still couldn’t find them for a long time, because they either had a flat phone or they were still abroad. But you can’t talk about some madness, it was better at night, worse in the morning.
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I think that, overall, it will either improve or worsen, because as soon as the Russian army approaches the border, it will probably let all the refugees through at once. Or those people waiting tens of hours in the winter will run out of patience and somehow break that line.
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Did you talk to the refugees?
There was no time for that. At night we transferred the cargo, went to bed a little and in the morning we had a family in the car, which we took to the Czech Republic. They didn’t talk much. They were frozen and wanted to be with Dad, my husband, as soon as possible.
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You took your family to Bohemia to see their father in Hranice na Moravě. Was it assigned to you, or could you choose it?
It was a coincidence. Although we were on the list, we were not obliged to take away who they offered us. It’s spontaneous. For example, we were approached by a gentleman from the Czech Republic who went there to take care of the families of his employees, of whom he has two hundred and fifty, that he would need to take this family away. When he managed to find her, we took her and drove.
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Was there a variant in the game that you accommodate some Ukrainians yourself?
It would not work in a Prague apartment, but in Mikulov it would. But we had the promised opportunity from Senator Love to accommodate a family or, for example, two mothers with children in his apartment.
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Will you go for more refugees?
Possible. So far we are looking for material, power banks, drugs, mattresses…
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