Ivan Staněk

“The customs officers called the Yugoslav police officers, who arrived in a Fiat 600 in order to escort us to the Hungarian border; to show us the way to really go back, so that we would not make another attempt. I got back our car keys and I had to follow the police to the border, but I quickly compared the chances or our and their vehicle and found out that they would not be able to catch us, so I speeded up after some fifty kilometres. I got to another road, they started to follow me, but the Mercedes won, as it went much faster. I ran drove off to the border, the day prior to our departure.”

“We had another ace card in our pocket, which was to introduce ourselves to a family in northern Yugoslavia, which was recommended to us by the Canadian (by a Czech emigrant, my father´s in law friend). We slept over there and they told us what was happening in their country, advised us that the most feasible way would be to buy a travel visa to Austria in Zagreb. So we did just that and received four visas for a fee. When we came to the border with this stamp and an additional confirmation in our grey passports, customs took our grey papers and labelled us as members of a group intending to stay abroad. That's why we were interrogated; our car was held up and we were held in there all day.”

“I prepared the top of the roof I attached between the front window and slid the two ends between the fender and the front hood. I created an armoured car in case of failing to get under and through the toll-gate. The pipe that I had stored in the back of the car to loosen tires or wheels was cleverly cut at a 55 degree angle and I fixed it between the roof top at the front window over the front hood. After the decision was made to go, it was at midnight between 14th and 15th July 1983, I was driving to the building between Klagenfurt and the Yugoslav border line in the mist, at night, while the engine was running. As I approached this object, I could not see it and was driving all the time with the open door along the white line to check, where we were going. As I saw the lights of the building, I immediately changed the gears to two. The children were sitting in the back between the wives, we covered the back seat completely with a think sheet, Jarda took a leather glove in case we had to break out a crashed window. My plan to go under the toll gate was successful. Sparks flickered, the gate was bent, but the car remained intact. We took out our grey passports and requested political asylum.”