FRANCISZEK GAŁĄZKA

1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, occupation, and marital status):

Bombardier Franciszek Gałązka.

2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:

20 June 1941 in the village of Grądziki, Komorowo commune, Ostrów Mazowiecka district.

3. Name of the camp, prison, place of forced labor:

Kalinówka, a gypsum mine.

4. Description of the camp, prison:

We lived in wooden barracks, in mountainous terrain. Food conditions: 600 grams of bread per day, nothing else. As for hygiene, the place was full of dirt and lice.

5. Social composition of prisoners, deportees:

A total of 150 of us were deported, including women, children and men of Polish nationality. There were no crimes. One night at 2.00 a.m., the NKVD came and, without listening to us, they took us to the above-mentioned town.

6. Life in the camp, prison:

Our life was miserable. The course of the average day was very unpleasant. The work was very hard and it lasted 10 hours a day. Daily remuneration – two rubles. There was no camaraderie due to the lack of food.

7. Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:

Their attitude towards Poles was very hostile – people being badgered, a lot of communist propaganda, bad news concerning Poland; they often called us bourgeois, Polish masters, etc.

8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:

There was no medical assistance, three people died: Józef Kneć (he was about 50 years old) and two children – one had the surname Suwka, but I cannot remember that of the other child.

9. Was it possible to keep in touch with the home country and your family?

I had no contact with my family.

10. When were you released and how did you join the army?

I was released on 10 November 1941. I saw a list of Poles on the building of a Polish-Russian draft board. I applied and was enlisted into the Polish Army.