1. Personal data:
Corporal Stefan Danilecki, born on 8 June 1908, farmer by profession, married.
2. Date and circumstances of arrest:
I was arrested as a Polish soldier on 22 September 1939 in Lwów, in a group of about a thousand people. We were searched and for the rest of the day we were marched in the direction of Tarnopol. We spent the night under escort. In the morning the escort was gone. We went homeward, but on the way we were caught by the Red Army men, led to the station and transported to Shepetivka.
3. Name of the camp, prison, or forced labor site:
I spent three weeks in Shepetivka, three weeks in Novohrad-Volynskyi (POW camp), and then from 1 November 1939 to 15 May 1940 I was in the 9th hamlet (labor camp) in Zaporozhye. On 15 May I was deported northwards, to Kotlas (labor camp).
4. Description of the camp, prison etc.:
In Shepetivka there were wooden barracks. They were so cramped that some of us had to stay out in the open air. The hygienic conditions were terrible. In Novohrad-Volynskyi there were summer barracks, and both the housing and hygienic conditions were the same as in Shepetivka. In Zaporozhye there were buildings made of clay, but furnished with pallets and mattresses. The hygienic conditions were bearable, as we could finally take baths. In Kotlas we had to build the huts ourselves, for which we used boards and wood. While the huts were under construction, we lived on the road, in the open air. We also made pallets to sleep on ourselves. We had found Kotlas a wilderness and left it a fully developed camp.
5. The composition of prisoners-of-war, inmates, exiles:
The composition of POWs: Polish soldiers. There were about fifteen Jews, but I don’t know whether there were any other national minorities. Mutual relations were good and friendly.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
An average day in Zaporozhye: wake-up at 5.00 a.m., breakfast, work from 7.00 a.m. (slave labor), dinner at 3.00 p.m., free time, supper at 10–11.00 p.m. In Kotlas: wake-up at 4.00 a.m., work from 5.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., then free time. We worked at railroad construction.
In Zaporozhye we used to play tricks on the Bolsheviks who marched us off to work. They tried to force us to go and we were running away. Our labor didn’t yield any results. Remuneration depended on meeting the work quota. The work quota was: unloading 35 tons a day; remuneration: from five to six rubles. When someone didn’t fill the quota he didn’t receive any payment and on top of that had to pay a fine. We received food three times a day, there was soup for dinner and some thick groats. We received 800 grams of bread per day. It was enough for someone who didn’t work, but it was insufficient for a laborer. Those who didn’t work received only half of the ration. We were issued clothes (padded jackets). There wasn’t any cultural life as we lacked means to organize it. Only propaganda literature was available. We had friendly relations and lived in harmony.
In Kotlas we worked at railroad construction. Meeting 100% of the work quota entitled one to full board, consisting of: soup – without any nutritional value (without even salt) – twice a day and 900 grams of bread. For filling 35% of the quota one could get 450 grams of bread and soup once a day. We had the same clothes that we had been issued in Zaporozhye. There wasn’t any cultural life.
7. The NKVD’s attitude towards Poles:
I was interrogated approx. five times in Zaporozhye and once in Kotlas. None of us signed his testimony, as the Soviets were trying to force us to take Soviet citizenship. For skipping work or failing to meet the work quota we were punished with confinement in a dark cell with nothing but 300 grams of bread and water. Kabanov, the NKVD major, punished us frequently and severely. Communist propaganda was spread in the form of lectures delivered by political commissars. It was less intense in the north, and was limited there to propagating shock labor. The NKVD spoke of Poland only in foul and derogatory terms, claiming that Poland – if ever – would be reborn red, as one of the Soviet republics.
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality rate:
The medical assistance was virtually non-existent, limited to issuing rare medical leaves for those who ran a very high fever. The rest of the sick were driven out to work. The mortality rate was low.
9. Was there any possibility to get in contact with one’s country and family?
It was virtually impossible to get in contact with one’s country and family. The majority of us received but one letter, and there were some who didn’t manage to establish any contact with their families.
10. When were you released and how did you manage to join the army?
I was released on 20 July 1941 and transferred in a Soviet transport to Vyazniki, and then I left in a Polish military transport for Tatischevo, where I joined the 5th Infantry Division.