Cadet Henryk Fabiszewski, born 10 February 1894, officer of the State Police, married.
On 17 September 1939, due to the Soviet troops crossing the border, the State Police was ordered to come in force to Slonim district, Nowogródek Voivodeship. After arriving in Oran we were loaded onto trains together with the army and ordered by the military authorities to defend Grodno. After accepting to fight the Soviets, on the orders of General Olszyna-Wilczyński, the commander of the Grodno Corps Command, we withdrew from Grodno to the village of Sopoćkinie. After engaging in combat with the Soviet tanks, Gen. Olszyna-Wilczyński was killed on the field of glory during the battle of Sopockinie. On the order of the military authorities (issued by a colonel unknown to me) on 24 September 1939, in Gromadzinka [?], we crossed the Polish-Lithuanian border and laid down our arms. Next, we were sent away to Kalwaria under escort, [and] from Kalwaria to Wiłkowyszki, where we were locked up in a camp. Life in the camp was bearable; the Lithuanian authorities treated us reasonably well.
On 12 July 1940, after the occupation of Soviet bases in Lithuania, we were deported by the Soviets to a camp in Kozelsk in Russia. The Soviet authorities, having taken us from Lithuania, loaded us into freight cars, 48 people each. During the journey, they locked the wagons with padlocks, the windows were boarded up, and we had to deal with our physiological needs in the wagons. They did not give us any water or food, only after 48 hours did they give us one bucket of water per wagon and one salted fish each.
After arriving at the Kozelsk camp, we were accommodated in some monastery churches. Housing conditions, life and hygiene in the camp were bearable. The composition of the prisoners was 1,000 officers and 2,000 rank-and-file police, military police, Border Protection Corps and Border Guard. Cultural and educational life was possible because our officers organized a choir and symphonic [band]. There was also a club of chess players, backgammon and billiards. A propaganda library was set up by the Soviets. At the same time, I mention that we had a very large number of Polish books from the libraries of Vilnius, which the Soviets did not take away from us during their inspection. The relations between the officers and rank-and-file were fraternal and our morale was good as the officers kept our spirits up. There were radio loudspeakers in the camp, from which we listened to news from the battle front between England and Germany. As for this news, we did not believe in the Soviet propaganda (the information was broadcast from Moscow).
The conduct of the NKVD authorities was unbearable for us—during the interrogation: beatings, torture and insults that served to kill the spirit in every Pole, as well as insults against the Polish government and our allies. The interrogation would usually take place at night. News from the homeland was virtually non-existent, and from time to time we only received scraps of information from the local civilians about the homeland and general politics. In addition, we barely received any correspondence from our families back home.
Hygiene and medical assistance were good, mortality negligible.
On 16 May 1941, we were separated from the officers and deported from the Kozielsk camp to the Kola Peninsula. Our journey took place in unbearable conditions. After arriving at the destination, we were thrown out of the ship and left under the bare sky. In difficult conditions we put up tents in the mud, hungry and cold. We were housed in these tents for two weeks, and from there we were herded off to hard labor, hungry, without any strength. The way to this work was onerous and far away, up to ten kilometers. After returning from work to our accommodation, a cooked stew was waiting for us, and we received 200 g of bread and some dry groats, which we did not have the means to cook, because there was no wood.
And so every day of tedious and arduous work passed in anticipation of a brighter tomorrow.
On 30 July 1941, we were informed about the conclusion of an agreement between the Polish government and Soviet Russia, and since then we were counted [as] free Polish citizens. The Soviet authorities announced that a Polish army was forming in the USSR.
On 22 August 1941, Colonel Sulik-Sarnowski came to Suzdal together with a representative of the Soviet authorities and, after reading out the order of the Polish authorities, we were released from the camp. On that day, I passed a conscription commission and was drafted into the Polish army. After the commission, I was taken away from Suzdal to Tatishchev, where the 5th Division formed.