Scott Bury - Walking Out of War

May 1946

By late May, some refugees were beginning to give up. On a bright afternoon, a non-military Russian-made truck took three families from Belarus back to help rebuild their homes.

Maurice knew it was time for him to leave. Few of the refugees in the camp, and probably none of the American and French guards believed that he was from Montreal.

Then Corporal Knight handed him an envelope bearing the stamp of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, or UNRRA. “This came for you in today’s mailbag, Morrie.” The letter had been opened, following the protocol of the U.N. and the American Army to check letters sent through their postal system but addressed to non-military or U.N. personnel.

Heartbeat accelerating, Maurice unfolded the letter. It was a small piece of paper, two-thirds the size of the standard letter paper the Army used, and again, it bore the UNRRA. heading, along with a more specific designation of the author in French.

However, the text was perfectly typed in English.

“This is to certify that the U.N.R.R.A. Administration has no objection to accepting Mr. Maurice Bury, a Canadian subject, as an inhabitant of Camp Kufstein.”

It was signed by E.F. Squadrille, Director, Camp Kufstein, and stamped by the U.N.R.R.A.-D.P. Center – Kufstein.”

Camp Kufstein was close to the German border, and closer to the U.S.S.R.

“You planning on leaving us, Morrie?” Knight asked. He sat behind his desk, and Maurice thought he looked a little hurt. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like us no more?”

“No, nothing like that… I applied to go to Kufstein about a month ago. Now I have permission to go. But I don’t know how I can arrange transportation there.”

But there was one important aspect of the letter that Maurice knew was more important than permission to travel that he neither wanted nor could afford. Director Squadrille’s letter, stamped with the official mark of an agency of the United Nations, acknowledged him as a “Canadian subject.”

Documentation was the only weapon Maurice could use to save himself from the NKVD, and this would be a powerful addition to his arsenal.

Kufstein was about 150 kilometres, or 100 miles from Landeck. While civilian trains had been partially restored in Austria, buying a ticket required that he had permission to travel from the Allied occupying forces. If Corporal Knight’ reaction was any indication, Maurice might have trouble getting those permits from Commandant Whitney-Coates.

Soon after that, a letter arrived that changed his plans.

It came in a large envelope made of heavy, almost luxurious paper with a Montreal return address. The unfolded letter inside bore a red wax notary’s seal at the bottom left corner, and his Aunt Eudora’s signature on the right.

C A N A D A

PROVINCE OF QUEBEC

DISTRICT OF MONTREAL

I, the undersigned, Mrs. Evdokia Babiak, business Lady, residing and conduct the business at 1915 Centre St. Montreal, Que. Canada, after being duly sworn in , on the Holy Gospel, before the undersigned Commissaire of the Superiour Court, declared and say:

– That I am a Canadian Citizen.

That Mr. Bury Maurice who was born in Canada, and who is at Present in Austria directed by the address U.N.R.R.A. D.P.C. 188, Camp Landeck, Turol Austria – is my cousin.

That his sincere wish to leave Europe and establish himself in Montreal Canada as soon as possible.

That to give security to the Government of the Country where he has chosen to live, to the effect that he will have sufficient money to live independently, without being at the charge of the Government, I, the undersigned, bind and oblige myself to take care of my said cousin, to pay all the transportation fees, and to provide him with - sufficient money, for any other living expenses.

––– That my present wealth is approximately of $15.000.

And I have signed at Montreal, Canada, this 25th day of April, 1946.

Sworn before me, at the City

of Montreal, Canada, on this

25th,day of April, 1946.

P.R. Rhodes

Commissaire of the Superior Court.

“What are you smiling about, Morrie?” Knight asked.

Maurice showed him the letter. “I am one step closer to home now.”

“Huh. So you really are Canadian.”

“Of course I am. I told you. I showed you my birth certificate.”

Knight shrugged. “Those things can be forged. But mostly, it’s your accent. You don’t sound like a Canadian to me. You sound like a Russian. And you don’t speak French.”

“A lot of people from Canada don’t speak French.”

Corporal Knight responded with a half-smile and a wink.

There was another piece of paper in the envelope: a hand-written note from his Aunt Evdokia. It explained that she had sent a copy of the affidavit to the office of the Secretary of State in Ottawa, who when they approved Maurice’s return to Canada, would send a telegram to the NRRA directorate in Austria. Maurice would then have to get permission and a ticket to travel to Vienna, where he could obtain security clearance from the Allied command.

He was one step closer. But there were still five to go.

Those steps took the second half of 1946. Governments never move quickly, and there were millions of D.P.s clamouring for emigration from Europe, especially from the USSR.

It was December 30, 1946, before a telegram arrived from the UNRRA office in Vienna.

rcd 30th December, 1946

Mr.Whitney-Coates

Mr.Knight

Camp Landeck

iamb v amu vienna nr.420

from UNRRA Vienna 301620

to UNRRA Innsbruck

bt

To Director French Zone Headquarters Innsbruck 599, from Repatriation Officer Vienna.

Please arrange for Mr.Maurice BURY, Landeck Camp, to come to Vienna soonest in order that security in order that security clearance may be obtained here for his journey to Canada.

sent 301623 KWK ar

rcd 301630 IHar.

Then things sped up for Maurice. Corporal Knight helped him make applications, and pressured the commandant to sign papers.

Maurice celebrated New Year’s Day 1947 with the GIs. He drank, he sang, and he danced with German, Czech and Polish girls at a party held in one of the barracks.

Two weeks later, Corporal Knight gave him a red bi-folded card, with a four-language title. It was an Allied Travel Permit that allowed him to go to Vienna. Ironically, the front was signed by the same French officer who had tried to send all the Ukrainians back to the U.S.S.R. in the fall—Charles Meistersheim..

Maurice paid for his train ticket out of the money he had saved from his meagre salary as a translator for the U.S. Army. Corporal Knight accompanied him to the train platform.

“So long, Morrie,” he said, shaking Maurice’s hand. “I’m glad you’re going home. I hear we’re going back stateside soon, too.”