MOJŻESZ SAMAN

Mojżesz Saman, senior uhlan, born 3 March 1912, painter and varnisher, married.

I was arrested by the Soviet authorities on 24 November [1939] as I was crossing the border in Przemyśl. After being arrested, I was placed in prison in Przemyśl where I was interrogated about the circumstances surrounding my attempt to cross the border. I was accused of espionage; it was claimed that I was an officer of the Polish army even though I had a military identification card which they confiscated. They also took away my state diploma confirming my occupation, my birth certificate, etc. The interrogation was carried out in a very brutal manner; it was difficult. At the beginning of March 1940, I was transferred to prison in Nikolaev where I remained until 18 August 1940, when I was moved to prison in Kharkov. The investigation was concluded there and a verdict [illegible]; I was sentenced to three years of forced labor. On 15 September 1940, I was moved to the camps in the Onezhskyi Raion. I remained there until 15 September 1941, whereupon I was released following the agreement of the Polish-Soviet pact.

Conditions in the camp were very difficult. Were we forced to perform hard labor; food was very lousy; general hygiene and medical aid were scant and illness and mortality was quite high as a result.

After falling ill, I was placed in a hospital in Vologda where I was bedridden for six weeks, after which I made my way to [Barnaul?] to seek out my family. I tracked down my family in Jambyl and stayed with them for three months, after which I joined the Polish army in Lugovoy on 28 March 1942; I was assigned to a cavalry unit.