1. Personal data.
Gunner Izydor Godlewski, 24 years old, student.
2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:
4 December 1939 for an attempt to cross the border at Jagodzin, Luboml district.
3. Name of the camp:
Kandalaksha near Murmansk, “Middle Canal” and KAZ camps.
4. Description of the camp:
Mountains and rocks; barracks, tents, about 1,500 people in a barrack. The hygiene was not very good, we bathed every 10 days.
5. Social composition of prisoners:
Half of the prisoners were Jews, 25 percent were Poles, the rest were Ukrainians and Russians – mostly from the Finnish front. Relations with the Russians were acceptable, but those between Ukrainians and Jews were bad. Moral standing was low.
6. Life in the camp:
It was a 12-hour working day. The work was hard, we earned 10 rubles per month. The food was quite good – meat once a week, usually groats with butter. Some time off every two weeks: propaganda cinema.
7. Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:
They did not beat us, but locked us in jail. Strong communist propaganda.
8. Medical assistance:
It was good; the doctors were Polish. The late Aleks Bobilewicz from Warsaw, aged 18, died.
9. Was it possible to keep in touch with the home country?
We regularly received letters; it was easy to keep in touch.
10. When were you released and how did you join the army?
I was released on 20 September 1941. Based on a certificate, I went south by rail and joined the Polish army in the town of Urgench on 4 February 1942.