Two Americans meet on a plane to Poland then join forces to help Ukrainian refugees

“What we have here is a humanitarian crisis unlike we’ve seen in a while,” volunteer Zohar Swaine said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon, March 24. The New York City-born former United States Marine said he, along with many others, felt a sense of duty that compelled him to pack a suitcase and head to Poland on his own dime to help refugees pouring into Poland from war-torn Ukraine.

Luggage purchased for refugees passing through Krakow.

Swaine, a business consultant from New Jersey, said goodbye to his wife and two teens about 10 days ago, before flying to Krakow, Poland to see what he could offer in assistance to refugees fleeing Ukraine. Fortuitously, he met fellow American Stan Brooks, a former Front Royal mayor and town councilman, now of Charlottesville, Virginia, on a flight from Munich to Krakow. Both were headed to Poland to help, though neither was affiliated with a rescue group or organization.

Upon arrival, Swaine made his way to the border and Sauveteurs Sans Frontières, SSF (“Rescuers Without Borders” from French to English), a French/Israeli organization that provides humanitarian aid across the globe. As a former U.S. Marine who had deployed during the Gulf War, he knew he had some skills that would help with the refugee relocation effort.

Brooks wasn’t sure how he could best help, but after three days of not finding a role in the effort, he felt fundraising was the best way to help those in need. By simply asking for help, the pledges of support came rolling in from friends. Before a week had passed, Brooks had collected around $11,000. Brooks said, one Winchester physician and his wife donated $1,000 and offered to house a Ukrainian family when refugees begin entering the U.S.

Those funds were used to directly help refugees who entered Poland. Some of those with dire needs, typically the elderly and mothers with young children, received $100 dollars in hand. Swaine said many of the refugees were dressed in threadbare coats and carried their belongings in plastic bags.

Swaine (center, back row) with fellow volunteers and a Ukrainian lady who was passing through the  Przemysl Refugee Center.

Others benefitted from one of the 300 rolling bags purchased with donated funds. Several hundred dollars were used to purchase plywood, to put down on dirt floors prior to expected rain. Swaine purchased 100 raincoats, anticipating a weekend rain. Other items bought with donated money include air mattresses, blankets, and children’s supplies; $1,200 was spent on medical supplies, additional money went to replenish the food pantry. A special donation of $1,000 was gifted to an elderly Ukrainian couple who are awaiting a visa appointment to obtain entry into the U.S.

Swaine has spent most of his time near Medyka, Poland, an area near the border with Ukraine. It’s a sleepy little town that, in recent weeks, has seen roughly 1.5 million refugees pass through its gates. Swaine, armed with a wheelchair and another volunteer with a shopping cart full of items such as water bottles, juice boxes, chocolate for the children, mylar rescue blankets, and first-aid supplies have sought out the most vulnerable Ukrainians to help.

Zohar Swaine with a married Ukrainian couple, both 74, who are awaiting a visa appointment for entry into the U.S. /Photos by Zohar Swaine

As noted above, the elderly and mothers with small children were those needing the most help, Swaine said. It’s 49 miles between Lviv, Ukraine, and Medyka across the Polish border. Some refugees were able to get bus rides to the border; others walked.

“We would generally look for the very elderly – folks who maybe needed to be in a wheelchair – who may have just gotten off a bus or somehow made the day’s walk from the city of Lviv to the border crossing. Especially when we were coming into the late afternoon, we could assist by bringing those highly vulnerable people across the border by skipping to the head of the line. It’s 30-degrees outside, and some needed to be in a better place quickly,” Swaine explained.

The Medyka Crossing Area

After crossing the border, the refugees arrive at the Medyka Crossing area. The first stop is at a heated tent that has cots, hot meals, electricity, phone charging stations, a breastfeeding station for mothers, a play area for children. The tents are guarded to ensure that the refugees are safe from predators, including human traffickers.

Refugees were able to stay as long as needed, from a few hours to a few days. Many of the refugees had arranged to meet up with friends or relatives, then travel to another location.

Swaine said that while volunteering, he wore many hats, serving as, “a hotel manager, a procurer of supplies, kindergarten teacher, and even a janitor,” – and that was fine with him. “If you are looking for glory, you will not find it as a volunteer,” he observed.

Crossing the border can be a time-consuming process, Swaine noted. Though officials spend about a minute, on average, processing each refugee, there were only three lines to service the 50 to 700 people waiting, depending on the time of day.

Swaine observed that the refugees are generally still “shell-shocked” and seem, at times, to be overwhelmed. But their demeanor changes almost immediately upon entering Poland, he said.

After crossing the border and traveling a few hundred yards to the gate outside the rescue center, there is a flurry of activity: “a man in a costume who wants to hug you, candy for the kids, there is a tray of hot tea, pizza being offered,” Swaine explained. As time passes, he says the ratio of volunteers is shifting. As more volunteers show up and the numbers of refugees drop, there sometimes seem to be more volunteers than those needing help.

Volunteers dressed as Santa and Wonder Woman are on hand to hug Ukrainian children as they enter Poland.

The refugees seem weary, he said, after having made a perilous journey that sometimes lasted weeks.

In the space of 200 yards, there are probably 50-60 additional tents along the corridor, and each has its own specialty. There is a tent for pets that includes food and supplies; a tent designed for mothers and young children, with diapers and baby food; there were several World Central Kitchen tents with food; other tents with free sim cards and minutes for cell phones.

After traveling through the corridor refugees are led to an area where buses sit, ready to take them to a former shopping mall converted to a help center, or to a train station in Przemysl, about 30 miles away for travel across Europe if they have destinations through relatives, friends, or other contacts. In that facility, owned by the British company Tesco PLC, areas of the mall have been converted into a shelter, with cots, a large kitchen serving meals, medical treatment, and other services that might be needed. There are also volunteers who help refugees without a plan to figure out their next steps.

Restocking the food pantry with items purchased with donated funds.

Swaine shared that the Polish citizens have been gracious throughout the influx of over a million refugees, working selflessly to improve the lives of those who have lost so much. Though planning to head home to New Jersey in a few days, he said he would return to Poland because the actions of Poland’s citizens have endeared the country to him.

Brooks, who has since left Poland, wrote in an email that “It was somewhat fateful that Zohar and I met on the plane from Munich to Krakow. We were two people who felt that they had to do something.” Brooks had high praise for his new friend Zodar Swaine, saying, “He did all the heavy lifting. I was nothing more than a fundraiser. But I am glad that I could do something. Like it or not, this war is about more than Ukraine,” Brooks observed of a growing international consensus, adding, “It is about democracy and the freedoms that it allows and about reality over fake reality – the reality created by sociopaths like Putin, using the latest in technology to brainwash an entire nation. Something that in America we are not immune to.”

What’s next?
Has Russia’s leader – who has cemented unchallengeable authoritarian rule over the past 20 years through “black ops” * methodologies learned as a KGB agent and chief – bitten off more than he, or perhaps his nation, can swallow this time?

Perhaps.

For there appears to be a rising tide of opposition expressed by Russians, even at home who are now under threat of arrest for simply publicly appearing at an anti-war rally, or even calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “war”. Even Russia’s oligarchs, the rich corporate and industrialist insiders handed the wealth owned by the Soviet State until the early 1990s collapse of the Soviet Union, are believed to be expressing some discontent as international sanctions, not to mention the specter of an expanded international war front, damage their wealth and security.

But a push toward historic regime change in Russia will rely on continued and escalating international cooperation — the kind of cooperation Zohar Swaine and Stan Brooks experienced on the volunteer front lines in Poland. Though rather than individual commitments born of conscience, it must be the conscience of nations at work in support of national sovereignty and independence from neighboring expansionist, totalitarian dictators.
Is the world up to it?

Are Russia’s institutional elites up to it?

Stay tuned.

* FOOTNOTE – “black ops” methodologies: Lies about opponents, domestic or foreign; the imprisonment of those domestic political, media, or cultural sources who would challenge him, not to mention their murder, even on foreign soil.

(Roger Bianchini contributed to this story)