My name is Elena. I have been staying in a shelter in Poland for over a week now with my two younger children and my mother. We were evacuated from Belarus thanks to the BYSOL Foundation, escaping persecution by the KGB.
My family used to live an ordinary life in Belarus, just like thousands of other families: work, school, home. Then a year ago our life turned into a nightmare.
It all started with an unexpected visit from KGB officers. I was detained right at my workplace without any explanation and taken for an interrogation that lasted 10 hours. They intimidated me with a criminal case under serious articles but did not say what for. They threatened persecution.
Our family was engulfed by total fear, anxious waiting, and the feeling that things would only get worse. And that’s exactly what happened. They came to us again. This time they accused my older daughter, who was already outside Belarus at the time. They charged her with threatening state security, calling for sanctions, and labelled her a terrorist, threatening her with a 12-year prison term. As a mother, it was terrifying and absurd to hear this. My daughter is not a terrorist!
To “get to” my older daughter, the law enforcers started using my younger one. She is underage, but grown men in uniform called my child directly, suggested meeting and “talking”. I was horrified!
Then they came to my 67-year-old mother. They frightened her with accusations against her eldest granddaughter, threatened prison terms for allegedly “concealing information”, pressured her, demanded she cooperate. My mother had a nervous breakdown, her heart condition worsened, and right up until we left she was constantly on medication.
When I refused a “deal” to hand my older daughter over through a “green corridor” back to Belarus, they threatened that within a week the whole family would come under persecution, including possible intervention by child protective services. The thought that they could take my children away from me was the last straw. We could no longer stay in the country.
Now we are safe, thank God. But our housing is temporary, and I am asking caring people to help us with renting an apartment and buying some basic things for the first time. We fled with practically nothing but the clothes on our backs.
I really hope for support and will be grateful to everyone who is ready to lend a helping hand. For us, this is not just money. This is a chance to keep our family, health, and hope for the future while finding ourselves in a foreign country.
Fundraising Goal
€3000
€2200 – rent for an apartment for three months plus deposit
€500 – clothes, shoes, essential items
€300 – food, medication for my mother