“We open houses and hearts but this will be unsustainable”

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Shelter in educational centers. Three Ukrainian women choose shoes in a former school renovated to accommodate 250 people in Jaroslaw, Poland. / Z. A.

Long term problem. Polish citizens are making a great effort to welcome Ukrainian refugees, but they fear that the crisis will become chronic

ZIGOR ALDAMA Special delivery. Jaroslaw

On the second day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when he learned that there were many refugees crossing into Poland, Jerzy Krucan did not hesitate and walked the 30 kilometers from his house to the border to offer his help. «I stood at the train station in case someone needed a place to spend a day or two. Because people arrive exhausted and numb with cold », he recalls. Of wealthy class, in his home in the small town of Jaroslaw, with 36,000 inhabitants, Krucan has five rooms. Soon they were all full. «I have come to have up to fourteen people. I thought they would be hungry, but they just wanted to sleep. I left our bed to a mother who did not want to separate from her two children, since she is the only double one », he says.

His is an experience shared by many Poles. Since Vladimir Putin launched the invasion, more than 1.6 million people have sought refuge in his country and citizens have responded by offering everything at their disposal. And even more. This is the case of Ewa Urzedowska and Pawel Urzedowski, a couple who own an empty office in the center of Jaroslaw. “When we saw the situation, we decided to buy five beds and everything necessary to accommodate whoever needed it in two rooms,” she says.

The couple also bought cabinets, bedding, towels, some food and hygiene products. «The City Council is managing the space that we offer the neighbors. We report the beds we have and they call us when they are needed, ”he adds. Just a couple of hours before the interview with EL CORREO, the couple’s phone rang: “It was a large group that didn’t want to separate, so they found another place for them.”

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These three “ordinary” citizens are willing to help without asking for anything in return for as long as necessary, regardless of whether the aid promised by the Government arrives. “It is easy to communicate with the refugees because many of them speak Polish and we understand each other. There is no culture shock,” explains Krucan. For now, most continue on their way to Warsaw or Krakow, but more and more are staying in eastern Poland in the hope of being able to return soon. And the local inhabitants fear that the situation will end up overwhelming their capacities.

“We need help”

“We have opened our houses and hearts, but we fear that the conflict will drag on for years and the current situation is not sustainable in the long term. We need help,” says Urzedowski. The same thinks Kamil Prusinowski, an employee of an insurance company who, together with his friend Patrycjusz Gawel and members of his gang, has launched an ambitious initiative that aims to welcome up to 1,200 refugees. Hand in hand with World Central Kitchen, the NGO of chef José Andrés, they offer up to 12,000 meals a day.

“Patric has several buildings and we are refurbishing them for that purpose. At the moment, we pay for everything out of pocket, but the project is growing a lot and we hope that someone can collaborate with us so as not to go bankrupt », he says. For now, they have already registered the Unitatem Team Foundation, “in reference to a united Europe in which no one is discriminated against”, and they already welcome 300 women and children in four different places near the border. The largest is a school that had been closed for three years in a rural area.

Inside, the laughter and tears of 250 Ukrainians coexist. The little ones play in the corridors of the center, full of clotheslines with clothes drying, while their mothers look for shoes for their feet and recover from a trip that, for most, has been physically and emotionally exhausting. «I had to walk 20 kilometers with my children aged 4 and 7, at ten degrees below zero. They treat us very well here, but my husband has stayed in the Ukraine and I miss our home. I don’t know if it will still stand when all this is over », says Yulia, holding back her tears while the little girl colors a notebook with two new friends.

Unitatem coordinates with the authorities so that the aid is used in the most efficient way possible. “The most important thing is to avoid the ghettos. Get the children to school as soon as possible and find work for their mothers, because this conflict can go on for years. The attention will be short-lived, and when the press leaves, the help will stop too. For this reason, we are aware of the need to achieve now everything that we may need in the future”, explains Prusinowski, who is going to hire fourteen Ukrainian women to manage his reception centers. The fear is that the current good reception will turn into rejection “if the economic situation worsens and problems begin to arise.”

“NATO is our guarantee of peace”

Yesterday, Russian bombs sounded closer to Poland. The attack on a Ukrainian military base just 20 kilometers from the border sent chills down the spine of many Poles who, like Pawel Urzedowski, give thanks for belonging to the Atlantic Alliance. “NATO is our guarantee of peace,” he says. Like most people in eastern Poland, he never thought Putin would invade Ukraine. “We are in the 21st century, and I believed that we had created a better world than that of our parents. But I was wrong », he regrets. Not far from his house, a mural recalls the Nazi death camps around Jaroslaw.

Urzedowski, who lived his youth under communism, compares the Russian president to Stalin. “And he has imperialist ambition,” he stresses. Therefore, both he and his friends are convinced that he will not stop his invasion until he controls the entire Ukrainian territory and imposes a puppet government.

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