Our Story

When Sandy and I tell people that we are both Polish and have known each other since we were 10, one of the first questions people as was if it was an arranged marriage? Alas, the answer is no. It was just pure luck and the commonality of both having lived through the same difficult experience.

We were both born in Poland and lived there with our families. I lived in Krakow in the south and Sandy lived in Gdansk in the north. Then, due to the crackdown on the Solidarity movement by the ruling Communist regime, our families choose to flee Poland and provide their children with better life.

Ernest:

On December 12, 1981, my family had already decided that we going to escape Communist Poland. Our bags were packed, the false story for visit was spread, and the only thing left was to head for the border in the morning. When we woke up, it was too late. Martial law had been imposed overnight, the borders were sealed and we were trapped. We endured four more years of unrest, fear for our safety and shortages of the basic necessities life.

In proceeding years my father travelled to Vienna often to work, leaving my mother and me alone for months at a time, so he could earn enough money to afford us a better life in Poland. Seeing how much better life was outside the Communist Block, he was determined that we all leave everything behind and escape the grips of the iron fist to start a new life in Austria.

In 1985 when the borders where partially re-opened we again decided to flee. This time obtaining passports for the whole family at once was impossible; the authorities were suspect that a whole family allowed to travel outside of Poland would not return. Through various methods, connections and the payment of exorbitant bribes all three of us were ultimately able to obtain passports, and armed with an official letter from my “very sick” grandmother that her dying wish was to see her only grandson, in one hand and a light suitcase in the other we were finally allowed to cross into Austria.

Once we arrived in Vienna we stayed with my healthy grandmother for a couple of days to visit, eat good food and enjoy our family reunion. The following week is when the somber reality set in as we had to report ourselves to the Austrian authorities claiming political asylum. We were taken into custody and transported to a refugee camp on the outskirts of the city. We were processed very much like criminals are: photographed, finger printed and made to undergo a medical exam. This camp was to be our home for the next two years.

In the following months my father and grandmother worked tirelessly to obtain permanent resident status for our family in Austria. However, the political situation in Poland had begun to improve slightly and it was the belief of the Austrian government that if we returned to Poland we would not face persecution so our application for permanent resident status was denied. We were given three months to leave Austria of our own accord or be physically deported.

We decided that returning Poland was not an option, we had sacrificed too much to just end up right back where we started. My parents chose to apply for asylum with Canada, and after almost reaching our three month deadline we were finally accepted and on a plane within a week.

On July 1, 1987 we attended the annual Folkfest in Victoria which is held to celebrate Canada Day. That is how, at the Polish pavilion, I met Aleksandra and her family.

The rest is history, we’ve lived in Victoria ever since. I have gone to elementary and high school here, attended College and University, married Sandy and had a couple of wonderful kids, and in the middle of it all started our company. You could say we’re a real Canadian success story of picking up, leaving everything behind and rebuilding a better life from scratch.