Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
‘We went through hell’
A Reading native living in Ukraine describes his young family's ordeal fleeing war-torn country
Jose Class Jr. stood shivering against the frigid night air, his wife and their 6-month-old baby by his side.
The throngs of people that surrounded them — numbering in the tens of thousands, the 24-year-old Jose estimated — pushed and pulled and screamed, each one desperate to make their way through a series of three gates. The ground they stood on was the western edge of Ukraine; through those gates was the safety of Poland.
For six long hours Jose and his young family waited for their turn to cross the border, hauling everything they had left along with them in three large duffle bags and two backpacks.
It was surreal, Jose said, a situation he never could have imagined while growing up in Reading. But there he was, cold and frightened and confused, fleeing the terrors of war on foot.
“It was hell,” Jose said. “We went through hell.”
Jose and his family are among the more than 500,000 people who have fled Ukraine over the past several days, as Russian forces began an invasion of the sovereign Eastern European nation. He shared his story Monday from a home in Warsaw, where a generous Polish family has provided a room in their home for his family to stay.
Long distance love
The idea that he would end up living in Ukraine is something Jose said he couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago.
Born and raised in Reading, he had no intention of going international. But then, he met a girl.
Jose first encountered Tetiana Zhuk online, meeting her at a virtual drum and bass concert. The two started chatting and quickly developed chemistry.
On Nov. 8, 2020, he hopped on a plane to visit her in her home country of Ukraine. The in-person meeting went well.
Tetiana ended up getting pregnant, and Jose proposed. The pair were married last February.
Jose traveled back and forth to Ukraine about a half-dozen times over the first few months of his relationship with Tetiana. And then, on April 21, he moved there.
Jose and Tetiana settled down in Dnipro, a regional capital in eastern Ukraine where her family lives. The area is adjacent to a region that for years has been a flashpoint between Ukraine and Russia, including the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.
Jose said he enjoyed living in Ukraine, that the people there were generally friendly. The food took some time to get used to, he added, but there was a KFC and McDonald’s nearby to ease his cravings for American cuisine.
Last summer, Jose began hearing news reports about the rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia. And by December, Russia had begun building up its troops along the border.
He was concerned, but his wife’s family downplayed the danger.
“They were used to it, they said they’ve been dealing with it for eight years,” he said. “So I didn’t really take it as dangerous.”
Jose and Tetiana decided not to make any rash moves. They had just secured an apartment in May and decided to put off any talk about moving until “something happens.”
In February, something did happen.
Jose said that things started getting more intense, with predictions of an impending invasion circling. When the U.S. began urging Americans to leave the country, he realized it was time to act.
“It was very terrifying,” he said.
Jose and his wife decided to move to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine near the border with Poland. That way, if war broke out they could quickly get out of the country.
Jose paid $1,000 for an apartment in Lviv, and he, Tetiana and their daughter, Sophia, boarded a train for the 17-hour journey that would take them there.
“I thought that once we got there, if nothing happens and everything is OK and everyone’s safe, we can go back,” Jose said. “I really wanted to believe that nothing was going to happen.”
War arrives
About a week after the family arrived in Lviv, Jose was awakened at 5 a.m. by a phone call from his mother. She said Russia had invaded.
Jose brushed her off, telling her that the U.S. media was just overblowing things. He was there, in Ukraine, and didn’t see any signs of war.
He hung up and went back to sleep.
“I woke up a few hours later to the noise,” he said. “There were sirens going off, and I could hear jets flying over. My wife was going crazy, everybody was going crazy. We wanted to get out right away.”
Getting out, however, was not going to be simple.
Jose said he had been in the process of buying a car for about $3,300. But the deal had not yet been finalized, which meant he didn’t have a vehicle to get his family to the border.
The car seller made him a deal, charging him $1,000 to drive them halfway. That would leave about a 6-mile walk.
Jose agreed.
He went to withdraw cash for the trip from the nearest ATM but found it swarmed with people. He had to wait about two-and-a-half hours for his turn, only to discover a message he couldn’t use his American account because of the instability in Ukraine.
Tetiana was able to wire the $1,000 to the man offering the partial ride, and the family set off. Jose said they only had about $30 in cash.
When they were dropped off, still miles from the border, Jose said they saw a line of cars sitting in traffic trying to make their way to the border checkpoint. He and his wife grabbed their things and their daughter, and started walking.
It was dark and cold, but they had no other choice. Luckily, a stranger eventually offered them a ride. He veered out of the traffic jam, driving down a wooded path on a shortcut that took them
to the front of the line.
They got out of the car and joined the mass of people trying to cross the border on foot.
“It was very, very hectic,” Jose said. “It was insane.”
Six hours later, they were on Polish soil. They were greeted with doughnuts and water.
“That was the first time we ate or drank anything all night,” Jose said.
Before the family had left Lviv, Tetiana had joined a Facebook group that was connecting Ukrainian refugees with Polish people willing to help them. A family had said they would meet Jose and Tetiana at the border.
Jose was skeptical. After all it was a four-hour drive from the Polish family’s home in Warsaw to the border crossing. But, sure enough, they were there waiting.
The Polish family drove Jose, Tetiana and Sophia back to Warsaw. Because hotels there have been overwhelmed, the family offered a room in their house.
“They’re helping us out so much,” Jose said. “They said we can stay until we’re able to get to America.”
Hoping to return home
Jose is still reeling from the past few days, still trying to wrap his head around what he and his family have been through.
“It’s been shocking,” he said. “I’m still traumatized.”
And, he said, the ordeal is
far from over.
Jose said he and his wife have been in contact with her family. A city about two hours from where they live has been bombed, and they’re expecting the Russian troops to arrive shortly.
“Eventually, the Russians are going to get to that city,” Jose said.
Jose said he’s also heard from friends still in Ukraine. One, a coffee shop owner, said he was given a gun by the government and is preparing to fight.
As for his family, Jose said he’s working to get them to the U.S. Tetiana had been in the process of getting a visa to move to the U.S. with her husband, but that process is a long one.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion have only slowed things further.
Jose was able to get a visa for Sophia, since she is an overseas-born child of an American citizen. But he said it will likely be a month or two until the paperwork is worked out to allow Tetiana into the U.S.
“We’re trying to get back as soon as possible,” he said.
Jose said his experience fleeing Ukraine is something he can’t really believe happened. And it’s something he wishes no one else would ever have to go through.
“I would never have thought something like this would happen in my life,” he said. “I just want to tell people to keep praying, keep praying for the people over here.”