TADEUSZ KAJPUS

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

Gunner Tadeusz Kajpus, 20 years old, student.

2. Date and circumstances of arrest:

13 April 1940 in Równe for being a clerk’s family.

3. Name of the camp, prison, or forced labor site:

Bulayevo region, Tchistovsky zernosovkhoz, odtelenie no. 2.

4. Description of the camp, prison:

Forest-steppe land, buildings were usually mud huts. Housing conditions were poor; hygiene was good.

5. Composition of prisoners, POWs, exiles:

Poles, Russians, and Ukrainians. Offense categories: border crossing, families of soldiers and political prisoners. Intellectual standing was quite good, mutual relations were rather bearable.

6. Life in the camp, prison:

Earthworks from dawn to dusk, including only two hours for dinner. Working conditions were very hard and remuneration was in cash. Food was poor. Social life was good, and cultural life improved after the amnesty.

7. Attitude of the NKVD towards the Poles:

Strict until the amnesty. Propaganda aiming to “Sovietize” the Polish population.

8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality rate:

Very poor, no hospitals or medicines, high mortality rate.

9. Was it possible to get in contact with one’s country and family?

Not really; not at all with family.

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

Amnesty – 31 August, release – 15 September. I was directed to the Polish post by the Soviet authorities, and I joined the army on 25 February 1942.