Mariusz Wrobel, who lives in Kerkrade, has been reunited with part of his Ukrainian family. With the necessary luck he managed to remove his in-laws from the Polish border.
His mother-in-law, sister and an acquaintance with her daughter fled their hometown of Kiev more than a week ago. Wrobel’s brother-in-law is still hiding in a bunker under his house in the Ukrainian capital.
human lives
Many houses and homes in Ukraine have been destroyed by the war. Under the damage to buildings and houses, Wrobel and his family remain quite sober. “Those are just stones that we can rebuild. That is not the case with human lives.”
Fighting for water
“I kept in daily contact with my family in Kiev,” says Wrobel, who has lived in Kerkrade for 32 years now. The sounds of war became more and more serious and the conditions at the Polish border where refugees are received are not good. That’s because there are simply too many people.”
His sister-in-law Svitlana can confirm this. It is the second time in her life that she has had to evacuate. She experienced the Chernobyl nuclear disaster when she was nine. “The evacuation then seemed better organized,” says Svitlana. She also calls the situation on the Polish border worse than that in their hometown at the time they left. “We had to stay there for four days. The situation is so bad that there is literally fighting for water.”
rush-hour lane
Due to the crowds at the Korczowa-Krakowiec border crossing, Wrobel ended up in a more than five kilometer long traffic jam. Yet he managed to find his family relatively quickly. “To the chagrin of other stationary drivers, I was able to get closer via a kind of rush-hour lane.” Because Wrobel kept in constant telephone contact, the family members quickly recognized his car and managed to jump into the car.
Kalashnikov
This action did not go unnoticed by Ukrainian soldiers. Wrobel’s car was stopped. “‘What you are doing is punishable,’ they said as a Kalashnikov was pointed at me. But I will not leave without my family. We begged and the soldiers let us go. The relief on the return trip to Kerkrade was enormous. My mission has been accomplished.”
Satisfying
Wrobel now lives with his wife and the four others in his house on Callistusstraat. They get support from all quarters. “The baker bakes fresh bread for us once a week, the Polish supermarket gives us groceries and people in the street also bring us food and drinks. We are very grateful for that.”