Maria (‘Masha’) Parfeniuk was just 17 when she walked across the border into Poland earlier this year, carrying a 3-week-old baby.
It was winter and the temperature was -10 C.
Valentyna Merzhyievska reached Kraków with her two teenage sons after her computer programmer husband had been called up by the government to join a unit of sappers (mine clearers) in the Ukrainian army.
Russia had waged war on its neighbour.
Both women ended up living with supportive Polish families.
Masha attended a Polish high school, learned to speak the language and won a place at Kraków’s prestigious Akademia Sztuk Pięknych (ASP).
After five months in Poland, Valentyna decided to return to Kyiv to take care of her husband who was wounded in action at Kherson.
Valentyna talks to her husband fighting in Ukraine from Poland.
These are the stories of real people of Ukraine.
Australian documentary maker Simon Target’s film titled Masha & Valentyna is the tale of a record number of displaced Ukrainians who have settled in Poland, all thanks to the hospitality of their hosts – the government and public alike.
It delves into the lives of people forced out of their homes across Ukraine, fighting and surviving the war with the help and generosity of their neighbouring country.
Mr Target shares his first-hand experiences from the scene with SBS Polish.
“I’m fortunate to have a Polish wife and get to visit Poland often and see what is going on there.
What has happened in the last nine months in Poland is astonishing.Simon Target
“Young Poles, in some cases younger than our own kids, are driving to the border and offering random Ukrainians a lift wherever they want to go, offering them spare rooms, attics and home offices to move in to. Without being asked,” he says.
The Polish Border Service recently reported that at least 5.5 million Ukrainians have crossed into Poland since the Russian invasion of their country on February 24.
Between 1.5 – 2 million of these, mainly women and children, have now settled in Poland, the largest number for any EU member country.
Simon Target and Masha with Polish hosts Magda (left) and Kuba ( extreme right)
Poland quickly introduced new laws to grant Ukrainian refugees the right to stay in Poland for at least 18 months, access the labour market and the publicly-funded healthcare system, attend Polish schools and universities and receive social benefits and assistance in line with those offered to Polish citizens.
All Ukrainian refugees crossing the border got something to eat and somewhere to sleep, a SIM card, a work visa, and a Pesel (a Polish Medicare card). Their kids could go to a Polish school the very next day. Instant free medical care and education for all. No questions asked.
Additionally, thousands of ordinary Poles volunteered to host refugees in their own homes, often feeding and clothing them from their own pockets, and helping them find their place in Polish society.
I went to film one couple in Kraków, who actually didn’t have a spare room in their tiny apartment, so they put a Ukrainian mother and two children and their dog in their own bed, while they slept on the couch.
“I told the cab driver about this on the way back to our hotel, and he told me that there were lots of people doing it.
“In fact, he and some mates were off to Przemyśl on the border next day with three empty taxis looking for homeless Ukrainians to bring home.
Right now, in Poland the mood is: if we all squeeze up a bit there’s room for more.
Ukrainians have settled wherever they had contacts or family, mainly in the larger cities like Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław – along the A4 motorway corridor from the German border to the Upper Silesian metropolitan area and in areas in central and western Poland where there are jobs in manufacturing and logistics.
Often well-educated, young and motivated to work, Ukrainian refuges have proved to be a helpful injection of energy and skills into Poland, which like many EU countries, faces a rapidly aging population and low birth rate.
Half-a-million Ukrainian refuges are children, who go to local schools in Poland and are expected to develop a strong connection with their adopted country.
Ukrainian refugees Masha (left), Vasyl and Fedir in Poland.
However, the hospitality offered and accepted is not devoid of unpleasant baggage from the past.
Ukrainians and Poles have some bad history with each other, especially from World War II.
The Ukrainian language is nothing like Polish – they can’t even read each other’s’ alphabet. Ukrainians are historically Christians like the Poles but are Orthodox not Catholic, which is a wide river to bridge.
But suddenly today, young Poles and Ukrainians are seen sitting down to have dinner together, nobody cares about any of that stuff.
And if Ukrainian women and children are properly looked after in Poland, it means their husbands, fathers and boyfriends can go to war, to defend Europe from the Russians without worrying about their families’ safety,” Mr target elaborates.
Mr Target is a Sydney-based filmmaker whose recent work includes A Town Called Brzostek, The Polish Missionaries and Warrawong, which was screened at this year’s Sydney and Kraków Film Festivals.
