by Dennis Dalman
Some might say Ted Bechtold of St. Joseph was in the right place at the wrong time – teaching in Ukraine when the Russian invasion began in February.
Others, however, might say he was in the right place at the right time because it gave him a chance to help so many fleeing refugees.
Using a rented car, Bechtold has been running errands for people in need, most of them who were getting ready to flee or in the process of fleeing Ukraine. So far, there are more than two million refugees in countries to the west of Ukraine, including Poland and Romania. The Russian invasion, including the purposeful targeting of civilians, began in early February. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has vowed to annex Ukraine to Russia, even though Ukraine has been a fledgling Western-style democracy since the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989.
Bechtold is the son of Bruce and Pat Bechtold of St. Joseph. Bruce was interviewed by the St. Joseph Newsleader in early March.
Ted Bechtold, 27, a long-time world-travelling adventurer, has been teaching English since August in Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv. (Kyiv is pronounced “Keeve” in Ukrainian and “Kee-ehv” in Russian), Bruce Bechtold noted.
Bechtold was teaching English to Ukrainian business people and their employees so they can better communicate with their American and British customers and counterparts.
In early February, the American Embassy urged all Americans to leave Ukraine due to imminent danger of a Russian invasion. Bechtold then traveled to Montenegro, a country northwest of Greece. From there, for a time he continued his English lessons remotely via Zoom for his students.
Bechtold kept feeling restless, knowing he had to somehow help the people who were suffering because of the brutal Russian assaults against them. His urgent need to help was inspired by two factors: his love for the Ukrainian people and his Christian faith.
He decided to board a bus bound for Belgrade in Servia, then took another bus to a city in east Serbia. From there he took a cab to the Romanian border with Ukraine. His cab driver did not have Covid clearance to enter Romania so Bechtold had to walk all night to the border. The guards there at first denied him entry but then sensing his good intentions they relented and let him in. Another border guard arranged for him to ride with a trucker to the Romanian city of Kluj. There he hired a cab driver to take him to yet another city, Suceava, where there is a very large refugee camp about 30 miles from the Romanian-Ukrainian border. In Suceava, to accommodate the tired and hungry refugees, a five-star hotel was partly converted into a refugee center with mattresses and blankets covering its huge lobby.
Bechtold rented a car and began helping transport fleeing Ukrainians from the border area to the refugee camp. He also ran many errands in town for refugee needs – to stores for vital items, to ATM machines and so forth.
He also spent his own money, wiring funds to students to help them leave the country on trains. He even helped some refugees apply at the embassy to get permits to live abroad, including a very old and desperate grandmother.
Two friends of Bechtold, one from Ireland, the other from England, flew to Romania to help Bechtold with his humanitarian efforts. He and the friends rent an apartment.
When Bechtold’s many worldwide friends learned of his refugee work, they donated money. In just one 24-hour period they wired him $12,000, which Bechtold can now use to pay for his rented car, gasoline and other ways to help struggling refugees.
Bechtold and his acts of kindness have been featured in Central Minnesota Catholic magazine, on KARE-ll TV and on Minnesota Public Radio.
Ted Bechtold is one of four siblings (two sons, two daughters) born in St. Joseph. He attended the St. Joseph Lab School, graduated from Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, then earned a degree in criminal justice (law enforcement) from St. Cloud State University. He then worked for the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, like his father (recently retired) and for the security unit at St. Cloud Hospital. Then the travel bug bit Bechtold and he began to explore the world: traveling, meeting people, working jobs, constantly learning. There are very few countries Bechtold has not visited yet.
Long before the invasion, Bechtold’s parents had booked flights to Ukraine to visit Ted. They hope they will be able to see him in the near future. In the meantime, the parents are encouraging others to donate to the Ukraine humanitarian efforts of Bechtold and his helpers.
There are three ways to contribute: a check can be made out to Ted Bechtold and brought to Magnifi Financial Credit Union in St. Joseph right at the west entrance road leading to Coborn’s store. Just hand the check to a bank teller and say it is for the account of Ted Bechtold. That bank was formerly known as Central Minnesota Credit Union. Contributors should write on their checks’ memo line, “Help Ukraine.”
People can also send contributions via Venmo @ Ted-Bechtold; or via PayPal at bechtoldted@yahoo.com
All contributed funds will be used for the refugee effort. Any that might be left over, whether or not the invasion continues, will be given to a Ukrainian charity.
Ted Bechtold of St. Joseph sits on a wall in Sveti Stefan, Montenegro. Bechtold has been instrumental in finding ways to help his students and other fleeing refugees in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
Ted Bechtold of St. Joseph stands in front of a towering church in Ukraine, where he taught English from August until the beginning of the destructive, deadly assault on that country.
In the lobby of a Romanian five-star hotel are mattresses and a constant flow of refugees fleeing Ukraine as the Russian military continues to bomb and shoot civilians as well as Ukrainian soldier defenders. This photo was provided by Ted Bechtold of St. Joseph, who is helping the in the refugee crisis.
