1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, occupation, and marital status):
Volunteer Zofia Gorłow, 22 years old, student, single.
2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:
13 April 1940, non-confined deportation.
3. Name of the camp, prison, place of forced labor:
Kazakhstan, Petropavl Oblast, the village of Afankino [?].
4. Description of the camp, prison:
Damp terrain, residential buildings – mud huts; no hygiene at all, even primitive.
5. Social composition of prisoners, deportees:
Mostly Poles. The deportees were mostly families of officials. Average intellectual and moral standing. Solidarity.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
Work started at 6.00 a.m. and lasted at least 12 hours. We worked in the forest and at a railroad track. The quotas exceeded the capabilities of the average worker. The pay was disproportionately low. Food: for example 100 grams of rice (per day per person). There was solidarity and cooperation among Poles. Cultural life – none.
7. Attitude of the authorities, the NKVD, towards Poles:
Propaganda, anti-Polish, and anti-religious meetings. Punishment for skipping work (even for important reasons).
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:
Medical assistance, hospitals – none. Sanitary help provided only by other deportees.
9. Was it possible to keep in touch with the home country and your family?
We exchanged letters with our families.
10. When were you released and how did you join the army?
On 27 March 1942. I joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Service in Tehran on 17 May 1942.
Place of stay, 15 February 1943