So I was standing there with my mother at the airport in Teheran, Iran. The year was 1989. It would be a lie, if I told you that I still know what words were exchanged. What can be exchanged in such a step when a family breaks apart? What can a six years old comprehend, yet remember? Probably I was told that I will see my father and the rest of the family soon. That was 21 years ago and in the meantime both my grandparents died and it feels so surreal thinking back.
We flew to Turkey. It was my first flight and I was of course excited as any kid would be. Officially it was a vacation; unofficially it was the start of a long journey to get to Sweden. What I remember of Turkey was the hotel. I was never in a hotel before, so it was very exciting for me. I ran through the corridors, explored the hotel and had innocent fun. I particularly remember chasing flies and being proud when hitting one at the wall. Yeah, you got the skills, man! One day my mother and I met with the people smugglers and we got instructions.
And what was the route for this extraordinary trip? Starting at Turkey, we would cross the border to Bulgaria. Then we would travel through Yugoslavia and have a short stay in Slovenia or Hungary (I can’t recall that). With new energy we would go to Austria and then move to Germany and finally reach Sweden travelling through Denmark. Some obstacles one would say, but really… what could go wrong? Actually nothing should go wrong, because the moment we would be caught the trip would be over and we would need to seek asylum in that country or be deported back to Iran which would be a bit… let’s say… messy.
Crossing the border to Bulgaria was a piece of cake. How is crossing a border, you might ask? It’s easy. You need to put on dark cloths, wait until it is dark and then you start from point A which is some kilometers before the border and you walk, run, crawl and hide until you reach point B after the border. There a car or a van should be waiting for you to pick you up. The people smugglers have contacts in the new country and you would live somewhere for one or two nights and then travel further with a van or with a train to the next border.
One is of course highly dependent on the people smuggler and their experience. In Bulgaria we stayed at a farm and then traveled to the next border between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. We waited until it was dark and then we would sneak over the border. Sometimes a military jeep would drive by and we hide in a ditch or a brush. For me it was some kind of game, an adventure, and I played by the rules. No loud noises, look where you step and don’t get tired, kid. It was not a problem for me. I was always someone who had lots of energy and crossing a border? Bring it on!
In Yugoslavia we lived at a house. I remember that the floor had a red carpet. Sometimes when I was out of the room I would see a black cat sitting on the stairs and looking at me very curiously. I don’t know if we stayed one or two days there, but I remember the next border crossing very well. The thoughts I had before it and of course the result.
So the plan was to cross the border like we did before. Business as usual one would say. The new situation was that on the particular day the field was full of snow. Snow as you know is white. White is as you know the contrast to black. And what was step one in “Crossing Borders – The Ultimate Guide”? Put on dark clothes! And I, as a six year old, stated this obvious flaw in the master plan, but we didn’t have any options. We would stick to the schedule and somehow everything would turn out fine.
Basically the main problem would be the open field before the forest. If we could reach the forest, everything would be perfect. We moved in the snow. It was cold but the adrenalin rush kept us warm. Everything was calm. There was no reason to panic. No reason to believe we could fail. A whisper. Get down. We went down. A jeep drove at fast speed. The headlight were distinctively visible in the dark. Heartbeats. It stopped. The doors opened and the sound made us chill. More than the snow. More than the cold weather. More than anything in this world. Barks. Flashlights. Dogs. Black silhouettes. Screams. Warn shots.
“Because of minor difficulties we have to inform you that the continuation of your holiday trip will be postponed. We will inform you about the concrete date of the continuation as soon as possible. Thank you for your appreciation and we hope you have a good time during your longer stay at Yugoslavia. Please put any hope in the garbage can placed at the left side and follow the tour escort dressed in camouflage. Please abstain from feeding or caressing our mascot dogs. Thank you very much for traveling with us.”
To be continued…
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