MR. VINCENT'S DESK was set in front of a magnificent old-fashioned bay window that looked upon the heavily treed Prince Arthur Street in all its autumn finery. He motioned for Danylo and Orysia to sit down in the deeply cushioned leather chairs that were placed before his desk. After a few pleasantries, he got down to business.
"You're probably wondering what sort of information the government has accumulated against you," Mr. Vincent said, looking at Danylo.
Mr. Vincent opened a thick file on his desk and then pulled out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket. "It says here that the RCMP visited your birth village of Orelets in Volhyn in 1992 and again in 1994 in order to interview the villagers about your activities during the war."
Danylo nodded in acknowledgement. "That's good," he said. "They should talk to people who were there, and would understand what it was like back then."
Mr. Vincent gave Danylo a puzzled look, and then flipped through a few more layers of paper. "Well, Mr. Feschuk, it seems that the RCMP were able to find two people who will testify that you collaborated with the Nazis."
"What?" exclaimed Danylo with surprise. "Who? And what did they say I was supposed to have done?"
"One will testify that you threatened local Jews. Another will testily that you collaborated with the imprisonment of Soviet prisoners of war."
"Those are lies," said Danylo.
"And that's what we have to demonstrate," said Mr. Vincent.
Orysia asked, "Has the hearing date been set?"
"Yes," said Mr. Vincent. "It will begin on January 11th."
"How many villagers did they contact altogether?" asked Orysia.
"I'm not exactly sure," said Mr. Vincent. "But they would have attempted to interview every single resident who is still alive and who lived there during the war."
"Do they also have a list of residents who will testify in my father's defence?" she asked.
"That wasn't their mandate," Mr. Vincent replied. "They were only interested in the people who would testify against him."
"I would have thought they'd be interested in finding the truth," said Orysia.
Mr. Vincent closed the file in front of him and folded his arms on the desk. "It's not fair," he said. "But we can make it more fair."
"How?" asked Orysia.
"The defence can also interview all of those surviving villagers."
"How do we do that?" asked Orysia.
"We would have to fly to Ukraine with an interpreter to interview them. Then we would have to fly the defence witnesses to Canada."
"Wouldn't that cost a fortune?" asked Danylo.
"It will be expensive," said Mr. Vincent. "But probably worth it."
"How much would this cost?" asked Danylo.
"The defence would have to pay air fare, accommodation, food and incidental expenses for the witnesses who come here to testify," explained Mr. Vincent. "You're looking at about $40,000 if you get six or seven good witnesses."
"Then we've lost before we've begun," said Danylo. "I don't have that kind of money." Indeed, $40,000 was more than Danylo had ever made in a year.
Orysia looked at her father. She knew what he was thinking. She also knew that by mortgaging both their own house and her father's house, they could borrow about $150,000, meaning there would still be $110,000 left for the trial. How would they ever pay it back? Orysia couldn't let herself think of that. Her father was innocent.
"Do you have any idea how much this whole proceeding might cost?" asked Orysia.
"The government spends several million dollars on each one of these cases," said Mr. Vincent. "To forge an adequate defence, you could easily spend one million." Mr. Vincent then looked into Danylo's eyes. "This is not a proceeding to step into lightly."
"But what other choice do I have?" asked Danylo.
"You could leave voluntarily," replied Mr. Vincent.
"But then it will be assumed that I am guilty," said Danylo angrily. "This is crazy."
Even so, Danylo thought to himself, how could he ask his family to take on such a huge burden? How could one man fight the whole government? Yet if he didn't fight, he would be branded a war criminal. Worse yet, his family and community would be reviled. He had no idea what he should do. He looked over at Orysia and was surprised to see a look of cool determination on her face.
Orysia met her father's eyes and nodded slightly. Then she turned to Mr. Vincent and said, "Please make arrangements for an approved translator, yourself, and whomever else should travel to Ukraine. And of course, I will accompany you."