The Polish community in Breda knows what the Ukrainians are going through now. It was a long time ago, but Russia was also banging on their door. That is why they are now doing everything they can to get medicines, food and blankets to their ‘brothers’.
At the end of 1981, an ominous atmosphere permeated the border between Poland and Ukraine, which was then still part of the Soviet Union. The Soviets threatened to invade the country because the Solidarnosc trade union had forced the Polish government into all kinds of promises with actions. The Russians feared a new Prague spring. On December 13, the Polish government declared martial law and the Soviet regime eventually withdrew from intervention.
Bozena Rijnbout of the Foundation Polish Parish Breda still cannot tell these events without wet eyes. “It is precisely for this reason that we as Poland understand so well what the Ukrainians are going through now.”
The Polish community in Breda and the surrounding area has joined forces and in the Mariakerk they collect all kinds of things for their ‘brother people’.
“1981 feels like yesterday to me. I was on holiday in the Netherlands, but my son was still in Poland. I could no longer enter the country and my mother told me to stay here. A lot of people who help now have a similar story and that also connects us to the Ukrainians. We know what it feels like to be oppressed.”
Three trucks with medicines, diapers and clothing have now left for Poland’s border with Ukraine. A complete network has been set up of reliable drivers and people who ensure that the goods really reach the right people. “A lot of misinformation is being spread. We also run into this.”
However, there is also criticism from the community of Ukraine. Karol, one of the people who came to help with the lugging, does not have a good word for the Ukrainian government apparatus. “The country is so terribly corrupt. People only got poorer after independence.”
In 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart. Ukraine, among others, emerged on the western side of the former superpower. “The old tensions are still alive. The eastern part is really oriented towards Russia, people don’t even understand Ukrainian there.” Karol notes that thousands of people have fled the country and moved to Poland since independence.
Nobody in the Mariakerk knows how to proceed. They are not stopping the goods transport for the time being. “This is our form of resistance against Russia. That’s how we really see it.”