1. Personal details (name, surname, rank, age, occupation and marital status):
Cannoneer Hipolit Ławrynowicz, born on in 1916, bachelor.
2. Date and circumstances of arrest:
Arrested on May 6, 1941, in the village of Spondy, commune Żukojnie Strackie, area Święcińskiego, province Vilnius.
3. Name of the camp, prison:
I was in prisons in Stara Wilejka, in Minsk, in Orsza, in Moscow and in Rezani [Ryazan].
4. Description of the camp, prison:
I was in prison in Ryazan for the longest time. The prison is an old, brick building in the suburbs, a kilometer from the train station. Housing conditions: in a hall 8 m long and 7 m wide lived 137 people. We slept along the walls and with four rows in the middle. We received 400 grams of black bread, and a box of sugar sticks every second day for two people. Boiled water in the morning, soup for lunch and soup in the evening with some boiled water. Hygiene: every day the floors were washed, every 12 days we had a bath and our clothes were disinfected.
5. Composition of prisoners-of-war, prisoners and deportees:
In total, there were about 6,000 prisoners; 2,500 Poles, and the rest were Russians and other nationalities. 70% were political, and the rest were there for failure to meet the work quotas, for trading, crossing the border, etc. Most political prisoners had higher education.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
Morning wake up at 5.30, getting dressed, having a wash, check by the prison governor, breakfast. Lunch accompanied by political, cultural and educational talks. Lunch, cleaning up afterwards, after cleaning the room 10 minutes of walking in the fresh air, dinner, prayer and sleep.
7. Conduct of the NKVD towards the Poles:
[While] explaining the Polish constitution, rubber batons were used during interrogations on the knees or the heels. Propaganda that Poland would not be around anymore and nobody would see it again.
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:
The conduct of the doctors and paramedics was good. No medication, mortality quite high.
9. Was there any communication with homeland and family? If so, how was it?
There was no communication with the homeland or family.
10. When were you released and how did you join the army?
I was released from prison on 11 September 1941. I sold my last clothes and I managed to join the Polish army, which had been formed in Bezółek [Buzuluk], off my own bat. On 16 September 1941, I was admitted to the Polish army.