Krystyna Słowikowska, born on 17 April 1921 in Lwów, student, single; sister in hospital No. 3.
Due to the arrest of my father (colonel) on 13 April 1940, at night, I was deported to Kazakhstan, to a Burłagasz kolkhoz which was located on the [steppe], without the smallest shrub, grass, or stream. In a radius of 15 to 20 km, [the kolkhoz] was surrounded by bare mountains, which gave the impression of a living tomb. It was a Kazakh kolkhoz, inhabited by a completely primitive population, without [even] a minimal culture, inherently bad and dirty. I was living in a mud hut, in a tiny room without floors, windows, and with no plastered walls. During summer, the heat reached 60 degrees, [and] in the winter, frosts were up to 70 degrees, and there were also incredible winds, so-called buran, which often caused a terrible death – by freezing. Yes, yes, those who have never lived in the white, desert steppe, where the soul is so sad; who don’t know the wind of the buran, which calls the elements to fight in the wilderness in vain; that person will never understand what goes on in the soul of a man during the hours of dusk, and what enchanting hopes lead him into the world, where he does not even hear his own steps.
There was no way to get a wood or coal. The only fuel was the so-called kiziak [dung], but it was so limited that I usually had a temperature of 15–20 degrees of frost in the room.
The work was very uphill – whether it was at digging meliorative channels, or [work] on tractors or plows, haymaking, or building. At the beginning, we did not receive any salary; after a few months of [our] efforts we started getting wages, however, it was so minimal that it was enough for myself [to survive], at most, for half a month. So if it was not for my own trade or food packages sent from my friends, I do not know if I would have the possibility of existence today. I have experienced moments so difficult, so untrue, that only strong abnegation and relentless faith in God helped me to get out of those tangled situations.
At the beginning, the attitude of the NKVD towards us was very unfavorable. However, with the amnesty [announcement], they tried to change and improve our living conditions.
The moment the radio informed us about the formation of our troops, I immediately left for Tock [Totskoye – village in the USSR, in the region of Orenburg], where I was enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Service.
8 March 1943