PIOTR SITKO

Corporal Piotr Sitko, born in 1890, farmer, military settler, disabled, married.

I was arrested [illegible], where I was beaten and kicked at the Zialski [?] station; I was told that I was a snitch. On 28 [February 1940?] I was handed over to local military police for supervision. Most recently I lived in the Wilno region, Dzisna district. As a former volunteer of the Polish army, a military settler, I had been wounded severely twice. [Illegible] distinguished with medals from the war. On 10 February, I was thrown out of my apartment with my wife and children, to the [illegible] we were taken to Zialski [?] station and they transported us to Arkhangelsk Oblast, Verkhnyaya Toyma region, Kresty posyolok [hamlet]. I had a 45 percent disability [rating]. [Illegible] I donated my disability pension to the Polish state. I was invited to the estate [illegible]. Now [illegible] we were taken to Kresty. Then we were transferred to Nyukhmich posyolok, Verkhnyaya Toyma region, where they packed us together like we were cattle. It was wet, we felt crammed, and we were brought for forced labor. The people in those posyoloky consisted of almost the entire Dzisna district: settlers, rangers, and foresters.

Communist propaganda was strong. Children were not allowed to pray and parents were punished for making their children pray to the Lord.

I was hospitalized twice, completely swollen. The only care that was available was to be found in hospitals.

As for the NKVD authorities, things were very tough for us Poles. Only those from the Kresy [frontier; Eastern Poland] claimed to be Belarusian, but they would be told on by someone.

Now, as for mortality, it was high. [From] Kresty posyolok, I don’t remember [names of the deceased] at the moment.

With the signing [of the agreement] between Poland and the Soviets, we were released. From Arkhangelsk, we went to Kotlas. Captain Maj led the transport, including families, from Kotlas to Karakalpak Oblast. By the Amu Darya River, beyond Turkul, I was called up to the Polish army in Guzor. I joined the military on 29 March 1942, and my wife and two sons stayed [illegible] Karakalpak Oblast, Siabar region; she was never of Belarusian nationality and neither were the children.