1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, Field Post Office number, age, occupation, marital status):
Kazimierz Pochodnia, born in 1912, farmer, unmarried; Field Post Office no. 163.
2. Date and circumstances of arrest:
On 10 February 1940 I was arrested at night together with my family (mother and brother). They gave us half an hour to pack our belongings. Hurrying us all the time, they drove us to the station and crammed us into unheated wagons. On the way they let us out only from time to time so that we could relieve ourselves.
3. Name of the camp, prison or forced labor site:
Arkhangelsk Oblast, Velsky District, Siksha [?] hamlet.
4. Description of the camp, prison etc. (grounds, buildings, housing conditions, hygiene):
Natural forest – the swampy grounds and unrelenting plague of mosquitoes resulted in many cases of malaria, and scurvy also took its toll [illegible] in barracks that were in very unhygienic conditions and without any medical assistance. We were condemned to die there.
5. The composition of POWs, prisoners, exiles (nationality, categories of crimes, intellectual and moral standing, mutual relations etc.):
The exiles were Poles. Grounds for deportation: settlers, rangers, families of Polish officers. Our morale battered, we tried to offer comfort to one another.
6. Life in the camp, prison etc. (daily routine, working conditions, work quotas, remuneration, food, clothes, social and cultural life etc.):
At dawn I was driven to work (regardless of the weather) and had to work till nightfall at logging. Since meeting the work quota was impossible, we received minimum wages, and as a result we were always hungry. Only a few received warm winter clothes. The rest shivered from cold and had to work, starving.
7. The NKVD’s attitude towards Poles (interrogation methods, torture and other forms of punishment, Communist propaganda, information about Poland, etc.):
The NKVD’s attitude revealed itself through constant moral harassment. They tried to convince us that Poland couldn’t possibly be reborn, and at the same time they were spreading communist ideas. On religious holidays they made sure that we toiled even harder than usual.
8. Medical care, hospitals, mortality rate (provide the surnames of those who perished):
There wasn’t any medical assistance in the hamlet. The hospital was situated 60 kilometers away. Besides, few were taken to the hospital anyway. You had to go there in a chaise. The following people died: Kazimierz Rutnicki, Kałuża, Dzięgiel and others.
9. Was there any possibility of getting in contact with one’s country and family?
There wasn’t any.
10. When were you released and how did you get through to the Polish Army?
I received the certificate of release in September 1941. However, they made it difficult for us to leave the hamlet. Only in December did I manage to run away, wading through the snow. After a long time spent wandering, hungry, I reached the Polish Army.
Place of stay, 15 March 1943