L
ast night our guardian angel arrived. A middle-aged dynamic man came into the Mondich home and said that he would help us. He was an expert on Ukrainian border controls because he knew the ropes and the officers. He drove Victor Pavliy, Victor and me to Chop where we arrived at exactly 11:0 am. He bypassed the guards and went straight to the major in charge with our passports and disappeared with Victor Pavliy into an office for about an hour.Chop is one of the larger border controls of Ukraine and has been modernized with surveillance cameras. Victor Pavliy later said that he and the major could see all our movements on monitors while we waited by the car. Fortunately we were aware of being watched and were careful not to cause offense in any way. Then the caliber of the men we were with was revealed. Victor Pavliy told the major that the bypassing of the Moldovian-Ukrainian border crossing was entirely his responsibility and he would accept any punishment. As far as Victor and I were concerned it was a collective responsibility. The major accepted that crossing borders in Moldova could be confusing and in view that we had performed much work for Ukraine and were bona fide citizens, one Amerikanetz and one Anglichanin, he would stamp our passports. This took a further hour. Then the major, with Victor Pavliy and our guardian angel came to the car and handed our passports to us and shook our hands and smiling said, "Never again!" We agreed wholeheartedly.
We went on our way to the railway station in Zahoney, Hungary. It was a slow train taking over five hours to Budapest, but Victor and I didn't care how slow it went.
We expressed our deep gratitude to Victor Pavliy and the guardian angel. It could have been otherwise with a prison sentence. We also would like to express our profound gratitude to all who read these reports and understood the difficulties, if not the dangers of our journey. Despite the many wonderful people in Eastern Europe, without whose kindness and generosity, sometimes in the most humble of circumstance we would have had to turn back. Victor and I know that your prayers were received and acted upon. We are both well and send our love. We are speeding home to our patient wives Beverly and Caroline without whose support, love, and indeed approval we could have not undertaken this daunting task. Finally, to Victor thanks for being a great travelling companion and Christian friend. We must do it again.
Good-bye.
Maurice and Victor