The Six Escapes - Finding Lost Civilizations

The First Escape - 1958I chose May 1 st for two good reasons.One, it was a national holiday and walkingsome 20 kilometers to a town near theAustrian border would be less suspicious.Second, one of my technical schoolcolleagues told me that he lived near theAustrian border and that on 1 May manylocal people would be drinking andcelebrating all night at the local restaurant/ bar.My friend Josef and I had a few days toget ready and promised to tell absolutelynobody of our plan. We would travel lightand I brought two shirts, a suit, shoes, araincoat, and a package of ground blackpepper mixed with hot red pepper. Thepepper was meant for nasty farm andborder dogs. Also, I managed to buy on theblack market some Austrian schillings,since the banks weren't allowed to sellforeign money to the general public. Nowwe were ready for the escape.We met at 5 p.m. on May 1 st at the OrelHotel in Moribor, and by sundown webegan walking toward the border, some 15kilometers away. The first few kilometerswas on paved road, then on a gravellymountain country road. We passedoccasional farms, but soon ascending tothe forested mountain. At one time aGerman Shepard dog attacked us. But, Isprinkled on the ground some of mypepper, which the dog sniffed and thensneezed and ran home. On a fewoccasions we hid in the forest to hide fromthe people passing by. Here the peoplewere known to report people to the local