Maria Podsiadło, born on 3 December 1922 in Chełmno, Pomerania, 20 years old.
On 10 February 1940 I was taken with my parents to Russia, Komi ASSR, Priluzsky District. The reason for our deportation was the arrest of my father on 25 January 1940.
We lived in horrible conditions. Our mother died after a month there. I was the oldest, and I had four brothers; the youngest was a year and two months old. We lived in the forest with 300 deported families from various social strata (policemen, clerks, and settlers). There was only one kind of work: logging. Both the men and the women had to work, even though we received parcels from home. However, there was a lot of antagonism between us. In summer we had to work from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., and in winter from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m., because it was a seasonal work. In summer we had to float what we had felled in winter down the river. In summer, while the men were guiding and floating the timber, the river claimed many lives, while in winter hunger resulted in a high death toll. We were very far from the train station, some 200 kilometers. Only in summer did a ship arrive a few times with merchandise of various kinds. Everything was distributed among “their” people, that is, the local populace and the Germans who had been deported there in 1931 from areas on the Don River. They had already gained the same rights as the Bolsheviks, and they even occupied positions of great importance, such as head of the lestranskhoz [timber transport management], overseer, shop owner and foreman of the forest. These people had long lost all compassion and understanding for us. The children were not looked after, they could only be sent to so-called orphanages. Despite the harsh conditions, I didn’t send my brother to the orphanage; nevertheless, he died of pneumonia.
There wasn’t a doctor in the vicinity, the nearest one was in the district town, 30 kilometers away. He was helped by paramedics, who treated all ailments with aspirin.
Those who met 110 percent of the work quota enjoyed some privileges, for instance in winter they received valenki boots, wadded jackets and bryuki [pants], and once a month, for sick children or babies, they got some sugar, potatoes and some oat groats. In summer we were saved by picking mushrooms from the forest. Some of them were poisonous, and people who didn’t know that ate them. There was one family of seven who perished within 24 hours.
The NKVD was hostile towards us. It could be seen at every step, during various meetings, strikes etc. All holy pictures were removed from the walls of the barrack. One such barrack would hold up to 100 people of all ages. The barracks were dilapidated, lice-ridden and leaky.
I had contact only with my friends from Tarnopol, and these girls were of great assistance to me as they were in a similar situation, that is, they were also orphans. My whole family had stayed in Pomerania, under German rule.
I was released on 5 September [1941]. After many tribulations, I managed to reach the Women’s Auxiliary Service in Guzar, and I was admitted on 28 February 1942. A few days later I met up with my father.