1. [Personal data:]
Platoon Commander Jadwiga Świtalska, nurse practitioner, currently a radiology nurse, single.
2. [The date and circumstances of the arrest:]
I was arrested on 5 April 1940 in Worochta, one and a half kilometers before the Hungarian border, which I wanted to cross.
3. [Name of camp, prison, or place of forced work:]
I was in the following prisons: Nadwórna, Stanisławów, Uman (near Kiev), Moscow, Sierłock [Sverdlovsk?], Novosibirsk, and Kijbiczow [Kuybyshev]; and then in labor camps Yurga and Yaya. I was in these prisons and camps for a few days, weeks, or months.
4. [Description of the camp, prison:]
In the prisons, living conditions were almost the same; we slept on the floor (which was very good compared to Moscow prison where we slept on wet concrete, which was the cause of various diseases). Sanitary conditions were deplorable. In almost every prison there was no water, which made it difficult to wash [ourselves]. We were teased, called Polish “Mister or Miss Clean”. Insects would bite us to such an extent that our skin changed, and many of us got various diseases. The lack of soap was like an epidemic.
5. [Composition of the inmates, POWs, and exiles:]
In Polish prisons, I was detained with Polish women of different categories, who allegedly were political prisoners, but they had no intelligence whatsoever. Mutual relations were generally very good.
6. [Life in the camp, prison:]
Days in prison were terribly alike. Sometimes you would go mad, and many times I considered taking my own life. But my friends who were in a different mood [than mine] would prevent me from doing it by explaining to me that Poland was and will be, so we needed to be alive for our country at least. The next day, it would be me who would explain that to someone else.
In the morning, at 4:00 AM, an officer on duty shouted: “Get up!” only just to make us to come in [for] half an hour and to sit there till evening, and [illegible].
7. [Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:]
The attitude of the NKVD towards Poles varied; however, it was always terrible. They beat women, and sometimes, for several days, you had to sit on the wet concrete in the cold cells. We were given nothing to eat besides half a liter of water and 200 grams of bread. So how do you survive it? That is how many people were [illegible], and [you can’t imagine] how many died because of hunger in the prisons and labor camps.… Mostly they were collecting statements and data for sentencing at night, interrogating prisoners for hours. Often, they were [interrogating] without stopping, day and night. If they were not beating you for hours, then they were forcing statements from you by starving you.
8. [Medical care, hospitals, mortality:]
Yes, there was medical care available but they treated you in such way (I want to emphasize that not everywhere) that it was better to live with the pain than complain that something was hurting.
9. [Was it possible to keep in touch with your home country and family? If yes, what contacts were permitted?]
Personally, I had no [outside] contact since my parents were probably in Kraków. Even now, I do not know where they are and whether they are still alive.
10. [When were you released, and how did you get through to the Polish Army?]
I was released when I was in the labor camp Yaya in Novosibirsk Oblast on 18 February 1942. I arrived at Novosibirsk and at the railway station I met a group of Polish people. I joined them and together we went into the 8th Division at Czok-Pak, and there at [illegible] station I worked in the emergency room as a nurse’s assistant.
Place of stay, 7 March 1943