1. Personal data:
Gunner Władysław Stęchły, 27 years of age, farmer, single.
2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:
Arrested by the border guards when attempting to cross the Romanian border on 29 November 1939.
3. Name of the camp, prison, and place of forced labor:
Prison in Sambor for a six-month investigation; then a prison in Voroshilovgrad. Sentence: sent to a labor camp in the working settlement of Chibyu on the Pechora River. Worked in oil shakhtas [mines].
4. Description of the camp, prison, etc.:
Camp in Chibyu – 6,000 prisoners, very flimsy barracks without heating, 120 people living in each barrack, no hygiene facilities; [lots of] humidity and lice.
5. The composition of inmates, POWs, and exiles:
In addition to Poles, there were Lithuanians, Latvians, Ukrainians and Jews, as well as Russian criminals. Very unpleasant relations (ongoing robberies for better items of clothing, food, etc.)
6. Life in the camp, prison, etc.:
Quotas were imposed beyond available [physical] strength [to perform them]. Food: 300 grams of bread. In the case of nonfulfillment of 30% of the quota, [you received] punishment by izolator [isolation] for the night. Work clothing (including rubber boots) was issued once.
7. Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:
Investigation was accompanied by moral harassment and with methods preventing sleep. They forced false testimonies and insulted everything Polish.
8. Medical care, hospitals, and the mortality rate:
Medical care was usually denied to Poles. Sick prisoners were forced to work, and there were numerous incidents of death at work. Widespread hunger, disease, and scurvy. The names of the dead in Chibyu are Józef Bielacki and Jan Skałacki.
9. Was it possible to keep in touch with your home country and family? If yes, what contacts were permitted?
None. Numerous letters sent in various ways remained unanswered.
10. When were you released, and how did you get through to the Polish Army?
I was released on 27 September 1941 in Chibyu. I received 260 rubles for work, went to Buzuluk, then to Turkestan. After a stay on a kolkhoz [collective-owned farm], I ended up in the Polish Army.