Volunteer Dioniza Kijak, born on 2 July 1924 in Zdołbica village, Strzelce Wielkie settlement, Zdołbunów district, wołyńskie voivodeship. Nationality: Polish; Roman Catholic; category “A”.
I had been living with my parents. On 10 February 1940 my three-person family and I were deported to Russia, Vologda Oblast, Kharovsky region, Mitinsk hamlet, 15 kilometers.
The hamlet consisted of 6 barracks, and about 800 Polish people lived in four of them. At first I worked digging peat, and later logging, along with my father. I received meager remuneration for my work, it was only 17 rubles per month, and additionally we received 800 grams of bread for those who were working and 400 grams for those who were not; bread and other foodstuffs were very expensive. We didn’t have enough money to scrape together a living, and so we had to sell our things – we didn’t have much, though, as they hadn’t allowed us to take everything. On 9 January 1941 my father got arrested, and from then on I had to support my mother myself. Following my father’s arrest I was summoned for interrogation and had pins driven under my nails, but nevertheless I didn’t denounce my father. At the time I worked transporting water and earned a little more than before.
As far as contact with the country is concerned, we received letters and also packages for the entire time until 20 June 1941. Later, during the German-Russian War, we suffered a great deal. The amnesty was announced to us on 28 September 1941. Then our living conditions improved slightly, as our bread rations were increased to 1,000 grams for those who were working and [illegible] for those who were not.
I stayed in the hamlet until 3 November 1941. On that day my mother and I and a few other families fled and joined a transport from other hamlets which was going in the direction of Buzuluk. 729 kilometers before Buzuluk I lost sight of my transport, and I didn’t know anything about my mother until I met her in Tehran. In Buzuluk, on 7 January 1942, I joined the Women’s Auxiliary Service. I was all right once I joined the army. Shortly afterwards I left Buzuluk for Guzar, from where I went with the army to Tehran.