WŁADYSŁAW SŁOMIŃSKI

The relation of a former Gulag prisoner in the USSR

Master Corporal Władysław Słomiński, 46, senior frontier guard, married.

On 2 February 1940, at 12:30 AM, my house in Śniatyn [a city in Ivano-Frankivsk region] was surrounded; after a call, I opened a door and two NKVD men and two militiamen came in. They ordered me to raise [my] hands and they carried out a body search, and then a house search. The result was negative, but my military service book and my Border Guard ID [card] were taken.

After the search, I was escorted to the prison in Śniatyn, where at 2:00 AM I was called for interrogation. I was accused of working in Romanian-Polish intelligence and they demanded explanations. I was beaten sorely. My answers were not satisfactory for them, so I was placed in an isolated cell.

On 5 February 1940, I was taken by train to the prison in Czortków [a city in the Tarnopol region]. When I was brought to the prison, my personal details were taken away and I was placed in an isolated cell. Three days later at night, I was called in for interrogation three times. Here, I was also accused of working in intelligence and forced to testify, through beatings on the head and whole body. I was staying in Czortków until 28 February in an isolated cell, where I was interrogated seven times, always at night. During the interrogation, beating was always used. On 28 February, I was taken to a prison in Tarnopol, where I was placed in cell No. 9. There were already 89 people arrested on the charges of working in fascist organizations, etc. I stayed in this prison until 3 December. Here, interrogations were carried out at nights as well, and during my stay there I was interrogated and beaten 40 times. In prison there were strict regulations, and food was tea without sugar for breakfast, watery bean soup for dinner, and 400 grams of bread a day. Contact with family was impossible. Twice a week, every prisoner was stripped naked and searched.

There were Poles, Ukrainians, and Germans in this prison. The attitude of Ukrainians and Germans towards Poles was hostile, and frequent quarrels even led to fights, as a result of which harsh penalty was inflicted onto Poles.

On 3 December 1940, I was called out of a cell and a sentence was pronounced. I was sentenced to ten years of forced labor in work camps. On the night of 3 and 4 December, I was transported with other prisoners to the prison in Kharkov. We were placed in freight cars – 40 people in one car – that were immediately locked. The journey lasted nine days. Our food was herrings and 400 grams of bread a day, without water or liquids. When prisoners insistently demanded water, then escorts, instead of water, beat them with rifle butts, saying: “Wody, sobaka, nie połuczysz!” [There is no water for you!]. Finally, we arrived to Kharkov and they transported us to prison by cars. Here, bathing and disinfection were carried out and we were placed in cells. Cells were five meters long, three meters wide, and three to four meters high. There were up to 20 prisoners in such a cell. The food was bearable and we were even allowed to write to our families.

On 25 December 1940, we were taken to a camp in Urals in the Sverdlovsk Oblast, to the town of Ivdel. In the labor camp a 14-day quarantine was ordered, during which we were getting used to physical works, like firewood sawing. The food was bearable here. We received tea for breakfast (no sugar), soup with groats for dinner, and 400 grams of bread a day. We were allowed to write to our families as well. After quarantine, we were split into working brigades, 30 to 35 people. Poles were the brigadiers in Polish brigades. Gulag was located in forest and mountainous area, surrounded by barbed wire with watch towers. There were 16 larger barracks in this area. There were about 3,500 people in the camp. The guard was kept by NKVD riflemen. Each brigade had its own place in a barrack, in which there were bunk beds without straw mattresses and without blankets. We had never received this. We were sleeping on boards, planting pants, and covering ourselves with a so-called kufajka [thick jacket sewn mainly from wadding]. Food depended on doing the binding quota. There were three cauldrons, that is, categories of food (qualitative and quantitative). If the prisoner did not make one hundred percent of the binding quota, he received watery soup even without vegetable fat, and 200 grams of bread, and for the night he was locked in detention.

The quota was seven cubic meters of firewood per man. Working time was from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. The cleanliness was relative: [we received] a bath, haircut, and change of underwear once a week. Medical care was bearable as well. Sick leaves were exceptionally taken into account if they were reasoned.

There were Poles, Ukrainians, Belarussians, Romanians, Russians, and Jews in this camp. The prisoners’ cohabitation was generally exemplary and bearable. The category of prisoners’ crimes concerned only political issues.

The attitude of the NKVD authorities towards prisoners was very unfavorable. They were flinging insults at as, and for the slightest offense they were beating and putting [us] in detention. In detention you had to work as well, but food was very limited – a prisoner received watery soup and 250 grams of bread once a day.

I was told, that during all my stay in the camp, ten prisoners died. I do not remember their names.

We were in touch with the country and family.

On 30 September 1941, we were released in groups. I found my family, which was deported to Semipalatinsk [currently in Kazakhstan] on 13 April 1940. I was with my family until 19 February 1942, then I went to Lugovoy, where I joined the Polish Army.