Wanda Szczepaniak, born on 30 November 1924, the village of Drażno, Słonim District, Nowogródek Voivodeship, student; I lived with my parents.
At the outbreak of the war, my dad went to Kalisz, but my mom and I stayed in the village. After the Soviet army arrived and entered the village, they took everything away from us and in less than three months, on 10 February 1940, they deported us to Arkhangelsk Oblast, Jamiecki [?] region, where they forced us to work in the woods. I worked, but I was never able to meet the work quotas because they were very high and it was difficult to meet them in a day. In winter, they did not allow us to buy anything and we had to live [illegible].
We were there with other Poles and Belarusians, who made accusations against us every time we met or at work, etc. They treated us very badly; they made everything difficult for us, buying food and everything. The Soviets were also hostile.
There were 40 Polish families, but I don’t remember all their surnames. Many people died of hunger and severely low temperatures, but I can’t describe it in detail because I haven’t met many people who got out. My mom stayed in that oblast and region, and we haven’t heard from her.
I wasn’t accused of anything. When the amnesty was announced, I received a release certificate and I tried to get permission to leave the region and the oblast. They made it very difficult for me, but having thought it over, they gave me a card allowing me to go to Chkalov Oblast or to Buzuluk, and we left – my sister and I – with the money we had received for our clothes. We traveled for over a month, hungry and in a cold train car, but we endured, and on 25 November 1941 we joined the ranks of the Women’s Auxiliary Service.