Wacław Brzezicki, gunner, 22 years old, student, single.
At the end of December 1939, I left for Bitków near Nadwórna to cross the border. I hid here for about two months, waiting for a guide. When he did not show up, on 28 February [I set off with] a group of 19 people towards the border. However, we were jumped by the border guard patrol—13 people were killed and six survived, three of whom died in hospital. I made it to Nadworna, and from there—after my frostbitten legs had healed—I returned to Lwów. On 13 April, during the period of mass deportation, I left Lwów for the second time to cross the border. I was caught in the village of Zielona near Nadwórna and from there I was sent to prison in Nadwórna. Here, after some preliminary interrogations, I was sent back to Stanisławów, but the incriminating material was evidently too small [and] I was transferred back to Nadworna. I ended up going back and forth three times. Finally, I was detained in Stanisławów.
Prison conditions [were] quite hard. There were 30-40 people in the cells, and 200 in the so-called chapel. From there, after a two-month stay, I was sent to a labor camp in the port of Kandalaksha on the White Sea.
The journey [took place] in impossible conditions—during the heat of June. We were fed with bread, water and herring. The labor camp in Kandalaksha [was] quite good. The total number of people there [amounted to] about 4,000, 80% of whom were thieves [and] bandits. The rest [were] rural farmers. There [were] around 300 Poles.
The working conditions in the winter [were] dreadful. Shoes and clothing were lacking, and mortality [was] quite high. The terrain [was] rocky, in some places wooded. The camp was located on a mountain slope. The housing conditions [were] quite bearable—the barracks [were] divided into floors, wooden, and heated in the winter. Hygienic conditions [were also] bearable—[there was] a bath, and [disinfection] was carried out.
The intellectual level of the prisoners [was] very low, [there was a prevailing] unwillingness to work. The attitude towards the Poles [was] hostile, [we could sense] a desire to take advantage of us, often [there were] fights and robberies.
In winter, the [working] day began at 5.00 a.m. and lasted until 5.00 p.m. with an hour’s break, and in the summer it [was] longer. The quotas [were] quite large and the food given depended on the work [performed]. Medical care [was] quite decent. A lot of Poles worked, but [the fulfillment] of the conditions for receiving dismissal [was] very difficult.
The attitude of the supervisory authorities [towards the prisoners] depended on bribery. Any offense was severely [and] strictly punished. The attitude [?] towards the Russians [was] timid. When it came to Poland, its government, authorities [and] religion, scornful, offensive, often even hideous and blasphemous expressions were used.
Of my comrades I remember only Stefan Szymański, Tadeusz Mazepa, Józef Patendiuk, Murzora, Jasiński, and engineer Bożańskiego. They were dispersed throughout many other labor camps upon the outbreak of the German-Russian war. I was deported to the labor camp in Vorkuta.
Here, the working conditions significantly deteriorated. The camp, or rather one large tent, housing about 200 people, was located in the heart of the steppe. The work [was] heavy—the construction of the Kotłas-Vorkuta railway line. Hygiene conditions [were] terrible. Medical assistance [was] non-existent. [We were plagued by] mosquitos [which is why] people often came down with malaria. There was [also] a great number of unfortunate accidents.
I was released only a month after the general amnesty of the Poles, and managed to get to Buzuluk on my own steam, although there I was not accepted for the army. Therefore, I still worked that month at a collective farm near Samarkanda picking cotton. There, I was called up for the “Children of Lwów” battalion in Totskoye.