Let Freedom Ring

I read “The Paranoia Express” by Jay Brunhouse (July 27), about the train ride through East Germany to West Berlin. I was a passenger on that train three years ago, a three-hour ride that caused me to reassess my thoughts on freedom and an experience that has altered my life.

I shared a compartment with two young men, a young Indian going to Berlin to deliver a lecture on human rights, and the other a Pole returning to Krakow after studying at the university in Cologne.

After the guards had come and gone, the young man from Poland was most curious to see my passport. He handled it gently, passionately, and before handing it back he lowered his head and murmured: “America! Someday I’m coming to the West, permanently, someday.”

When we reached Zoo Station, he gave me some change, asked me to run to the snack bar and bring him a Coke, “My last for a long time.” We exchanged addresses and said goodby.

Since that chance meeting, we’ve been corresponding steadily. I shared his pain when his father died and his glory when he earned his Ph.D. Now he asks my help in coming to America. To date it has been a heartbreaking task. I’ve been working with the International Rescue Committee, funded partly by the State Department but mostly through donations. The work they do is incredible. They never give up . . . nor will I. Their phone is (213) 413-2200.

HELEN BOURQUIN

Los Angeles