KAROL ŁUKASIEWICZ

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

Cannoneer Karol Łukasiewicz, born on in 1919, farmer, single.

2. Date and circumstances of joining the Soviet army:

3 November 1940, I was forcibly removed from Polish territory on the basis of a fictitious conscription to the Soviet army.

3. Name of the camp:

Jarosław voivodeship, Kostroma district.

4. Description of the camp:

Cold and damp barracks, no heating at all. Hygienic conditions were terrible—we walked around for weeks unwashed and unshaven.

5. Composition of privates in the Soviet army:

Russians, Poles, Belarussians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis [?]. Mainly ill-mannered, uncivilized, with a terribly low intellectual level. Morality was low, especially among the communists. The Russians hated the Poles, which they made a point of showing at every step in a bestial manner.

6. Life in the camp:

A private in the Soviet army would spend an average day cleaning the weapons, equipment and horses. The food consisted of 300 grams of bread and slops, which was called soup. As for clothing, it’s enough to say that in minus 40 degrees we walked around in dungarees.

7. Conduct of the NKVD towards the Poles:

The conduct of the NKVD authorities was terrible, especially towards Poles. After being imprisoned, I was interrogated and beaten with the result that I spent 3 weeks in hospital. And every day I was assaulted with curses about Poland and the Poles.

8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality rate:

Assistance was hard to come by in the Soviet army, because with a temperature of minus 38 degrees I went about my duties. In the garrison, 3 people died per month.

9. Was there any communication with homeland and family? If so, how was it?

There was no communication with the homeland.

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

21 January 1942, as a result of the Polish consul’s intervention. II joined the Polish army in Gorachkov.