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Show Family Flees Poland. 'In Knick Of Time' By GARY R. BLODGETT News Editor BOUNTIFUL The past 18 months in the life of Peter Skorut, his wife, Danuta, and son, . Mike, could be made into a best-selling novel or . ... television series. AND IT COULD carry with it all the impact and suspicions of "Night Crossing" -- a first-rate first-rate movie about an East-German family that defected to West Germany. In the true-life story of the Skoruts, this young couple - with their infant son - fled from Communist-controlled Poland to freedom in Austria, just hours ahead of the border patrol. THE STORY reached its climax on Oct. 22, 198 1 - the day Danuta's long-awaited visa finally final-ly arrived at the Skorut home in a small village in southern Poland, about 20 miles from the Czechoslovakian border. The Skoruts had been planning a trip to Austria Au-stria and Italy for a long time knowing that they would never return. Defecting to a free western country, preferably the United States, was all they could think about. PETER, AGED 26 at the time, was a university universi-ty graduate with experience as a mechanical engineer. But more important, he had studied the cultures of the Western Countries and knew the difference between living under Communism Commun-ism and living in a free country. "There was no doubt about leaving Poland," said Peter. "I knew too much about the free world to stay in my home country no matter what the risk of defecting." PETER HAD no trouble getting his visa, but Danuta's visa was slow in arriving. In fact, it took nearly four months and Peter had told his family he could not wait much longer before he would have to flee alone. But then the visa arrived, about 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon. The Skoruts had been packed and ready to leave for weeks and it was no problem to.loa.d their Italian-made car and be ready for the dangerous journey into Austria --the --the nearest free country for which they had a passport. PETER AND Danuta had dinner with their family and then wrapped Mike in blankets for the long journey. Within five hours after receiving receiv-ing the visa, the Skorut family was on their way -- to freedom. It was cold and the car in which they were traveling "was not performing well. I couldn't get it out of low gear and much of the trip was very, very slow," they recalled. THEY REACHED the Czechoslovakian border bor-der a few hours later and nearly panicked when they saw the two cars in front of them turned back by the border patrol. Would they, too, be turned back and have their trip -- and dreams --of --of freedom shattered? "We were detained at the border while they thoroughly checked the black book for names , ' ' explained Danuta. "We were scared to begin with and then to see the two cars ahead of us turned back really worried us." BUT AFTER getting clearance into Czechoslovakia, Czechos-lovakia, it took the family another 20 hours to drive to Austria - and eventual freedom. They took refuge in a crowded, filthy refugee camp just outside Vienna. "But because we had a small child, we were allowed to move into a small hotel room which was available because Continued on page 3 Family Flees Poland. V Continued from front page of it being the off-season for tourism," she explained. ex-plained. IT WAS ONLY a few clays later that the Skor-uts Skor-uts were notified by a letter from home that Peter had been inducted into the Polish Army --and --and was to have reported for active duty on the Saturday following their departure from Poland. "Looking back, it's easy to see that we barely made a successful escape. Another day, maybe only another hour and the border guards would have been notified of my induction and there would be no hope of defection. "WE HAD SEVERAL stories prepared to tell the guards if they questioned our visas, including includ-ing telling them that we were going to Rome to visit the Pope," he said. Why did the Skoruts want to leave their homeland? "THINGS WERE not too bad until I graduated gradu-ated from the university," said Peter. "Then things got worse and worse. I knew there would be no future for us in a Communist country. We are not Communists; nor do we believe in any of the Communist philosophies." He explained that his father -- owner of a small tool shop -- was not a Communist and that he spent many days in jail. "I did not want the life of my father." THEN WITH a tear in his eye, Peter spoke slowly about his feelings to leave Poland -- even if it meant that he had to leave first, without his wife and child. "It is difficult, no it is even impossible, for people like you (indicating to this reporter) to know what it is like to live in a country that is not free. Even the worst here is better than the best under Communist rule." PETER SAID he can't imagine what it would be like to serve in the Polish Army. "I know it would be frustrating. I would constantly be afraid of losing my life because I am not a Communist." Com-munist." He spoke freely about solidarity in Poland, and the long, hard battle to achieve what little success that was achieved for the "working class." "But even that is not what it should be or what it was in the beginning," he said. AFTER ONLY five months in this country, what does America mean to Peter and his family? "It means getting into the car and driving wherever we want, stopping wherever we want, and to feel that we can sleep anywhere we want without fear of the police taking us away." THEN PETER summed up his feelings by proudly acclaiming that "Nothing is better than the United States of America, unless maybe it is Heaven." His wife smiled approval. |