Volunteer Longina Hołowacz, born on 4 March 1922, Nowogródek voivodeship, district of Iwieniec, Kamień estate, unskilled, unmarried.
I was taken together with my mother and sisters to Altai Krai, to a sovhkoz.
Living conditions were dreadful, 12 people with small children were crowded into one room. Sanitary conditions were good, because there was water nearby. The small settlement was inhabited by four Polish families and two families claiming to be Belarusian – 16 Poles and 8 Belarusians.
I worked in the barns, carried out earthworks and worked at harvesting.
Our moral behavior depended on various circumstances and the feelings among us, but our conduct with regards to the kolkhoz and the NKVD authorities was always impeccable.
Our workday started at dawn and ended at nightfall. We had a single one-hour break for dinner. Quotas were so excessive that no one was able to meet them. The highest wages were 150 rubles per month.
There was almost no cultural life. On national holidays we showed our feelings by singing during work.
The kolkhoz and NKVD authorities acted to the detriment of the Poles in every way they could. When someone was late, they would deduct some amount from that person’s wages.
The closest doctor was 12 kilometers away. The sick were not able to walk there, and they weren’t allowed to take horses either.
The amnesty was announced in the middle of September, but no documents were issued. We left for Semipalatinsk without them. My mother and sisters went to Samarkand, while I joined the army in Margilan, in March 1942.