Refugees

THREE GENERATIONS OF CZECH FAMILY FROM'IRON CURTAIN IN TINY COMPARTMENT IN A TIMBER TRAIN.. After five months of intensive planning which included four surveys of the escape route and the construction of special equipment to prevent suffocation BENDRICH CECH a yr old Czech htought that he had covered every foreseeable pitfall in the escape of himself, his sond and daughter-in-law and their two small children.Hidden in a tiny compartment in a truck loaded with timber, they managed to get across to Austria in three days-without incident.Then fate took a hand-the rail truck was sent back to Czechoslavakia before they could get out..Then, sick, facing death from hunger and thirst-they almost gave up.. But Grandpa managed to bluff the station master into sending the car-with the family on board- back to Austria.. The method of escape was decided upon because Bendrich's son (MARIAN) () was the manager of a sawmill in Cervana, a town about miles from the Austrian border.They aranged for the timber to be stacked on a freight car for Trieste in such a way as to leave space.. little more than two yards square. They hid in this compartment- and had unsuspecting workmen put long planks across the top-forming a ceiling only ft inches high.After the train had crossed into the Soviet Zone of Austria-some of the timbers on top became loose- and so the train was sent back to Czechoslavakia for re-stacking.BENDRICH and his son took their tools-and boldly reported to the station master-hired nearby workers to tie down the timber-bought food and sneaked back into their'Hole'. Bendrich talked the station master into hitching the truck to the first West bound train-and eventually reached Wels in Upper Austria.. KEYSTONE PHOTO SHOWS; MARIAN CECH holding son VLADISLAV ), his wife DRAHOMIRA;and BENDRICH CECH with VLASTA- at the end of their dangerous journey

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Bluff Boldly Cech Compartment Czechoslavakia Daughter-in-law Decided Eventually Fate Freight Generations Grandpa Hitching Hunger Inches Intensive Loaded Managed Marian Method Nearby Pitfall Planks Prevent Reached Reported Sawmill Sending Sneaked Stacked Suffocation Surveys Talked Timbers Tiny Trieste Unsuspecting Vladislav Vlasta Wels Workmen Yards

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