[1.] Rank, name and surname of the interviewee:
Second Lieutenant Mieczysław Kruszewski
[2.] The expulsion of the civilian population. Its course and conditions:
I was arrested in Sambor and imprisoned successively in Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, and labor camps in the vicinity of Arkhangelsk.
[3.] Methods of interrogating and torturing the arrestee during investigation:
All interrogations were conducted at night, and confessions were extorted by threatening with execution by shooting or hanging, promising release in return for confessing the truth, beating, pulling by the hair and kicking.
[4.] Court procedures, ruling in absentia, ways of delivering verdicts (particularly desirable are full texts of judgements):
I was sentenced in absentia to five years of forced labor in labor camps in the north for attempted border crossing. The sentence was read out to me by an NKVD representative and handed over to me for signing. Almost all people were tried in this way.
[5.] Cases of people who were murdered during their march, during their deportations, during their stay in prison or during their work as forced laborers:
I travelled only by train. The transport looked like this: we were packed tightly, had a cold meal once a day but no drinking water, and suffered torment with regard to relieving ourselves (we could go to the toilet only once daily). We were fed with herrings but didn’t get any water.
[7.] Life in the forced labor camps (camp organization and work quotas):
We lived in wooden barracks, slept on pallets in what we had on and were wearing at the time; we got neither mattresses nor blankets and warm clothes were issued only to those who worked particularly well. As a result, the majority obtained warm clothes in exchange for their civilian clothing. We received rubber slippers. Food depended on meeting the work quota, but the quotas were so high that it was very difficult to fill them by work only – without adding [illegible] – and could be achieved only by exceptionally healthy and strong individuals.
[8.] Life in prisons:
In group cells, our life was particularly hard: they were so cramped that we couldn’t lie down all at once, even though we were packed like herrings in a barrel. Besides, we had to sleep on a concrete floor. Both food and medical assistance were bearable. We weren’t allowed to have a walk every day. The walk lasted only a few minutes.
Official stamp, 16 March 1943