Personal data (name and surname, rank, age, occupation and marital status):
My name is Janina Łabęcka, [I am] a volunteer, I was born on 4 April 1920. I graduated from a commercial secondary school; I am married.
Date and circumstances of arrest or deportation:
I was deported on 13 May 1940 from Lwów together with my mother, brother and grandmother to Russia, where I got married.
Name of the camp, prison or forced labor location:
I was deported to Kazakhstan, Semipalatinsk Oblast, Urzhar Raion, Tasbulak sovkhoz, farm no. 3.
Description of the camp, prison, etc. (grounds, buildings, housing conditions, hygiene):
The Tasbulak sovkhoz was located on a steppe at the mountains. The farm where I lived was situated between two rivers, and comprised several wooden residential buildings, ram stables and Cossack clay pits. Next to the farm, there was a road connecting Ayagoz with Urzhar. We, Polish exiles, lived in wooden buildings, several families in a single room. There was a bathhouse on the farm, but it was unsuitable for use; there was only one wooden toilet, several dozen meters from the buildings.
Composition of prisoners of war, inmates, exiles (nationality, category of crimes, intellectual and moral standing, mutual relations, etc.):
Except for a few individuals, the exiles were mainly Polish, mostly the families of landowners, military officers and policemen. Only my family had a railway background. These were mainly families of intellectuals. Mutual relations between us were very good.
Life in the camp and in the prison:
The primary occupation in the sovkhoz was to breed rams, so all the work was associated therewith. I mostly grazed rams, cleaned the stables, and worked at hay-moving. Work began around 7.00 a.m. on the farm, and significantly earlier in the fields, and lasted 12 hours. At noon, there was a break of about 2–3 hours, depending on the heat. On the farm, work ended at 6.00 p.m., in the fields significantly later. Work was usually hard, performed in very bad hygienic conditions. The earnings for blue-collar work were low, for white-collar work considerably higher. On the farm, workers were given bread and could buy something at the shop from time to time. In the fields, we were given bread, tea in the morning and in the evening, and soup with meat for dinner. We did not receive any clothes. We developed solidarity and established mutual relations. On church and public holidays, we prayed together and sang songs.
Attitude of the authorities towards Poles:
The authorities often asked questions about the life in Poland and sometimes beat people. For a failure to show up at work, you could be punished with lower earnings or prison. At the meetings organized by the authorities, the communist propaganda was spread. In the minds of the local authorities, Poland was a land of landowners, lords, who tortured peasants and workers.
Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality rate (provide the names of the deceased):
The hospital was located 18 kilometers away from the farm where I lived and was very primitive. A larger hospital was 56 kilometers away. There was no medical assistance on the farm. People who died: Janina Prokopczyc, Wanda Serwatowska.
Was there any possibility of getting in contact with one’s country and family?
Until the outbreak of the German-Russian war, I corresponded with my father’s sister and mother, who lived in Brześć on the Bug River. From time to time, they sent us money and food. A few times we received a letter from Warsaw, from my mother’s sister and once she sent us clothes.
When were you released and how did you manage to join the army?
I was released on 1 September 1941 and we moved to Urzhar. In March 1942, I left for my husband who was in Kermine. In Lugovoy, I found out that the formation where my husband stayed had probably left for Persia. After a few days I left with the 10th Infantry Division as a civilian. I arrived in Pahlavi on 2 April [1942]. As I found out later, in the meantime my husband went to Karasu Artillery Training Center and arrived from Russia with the second transport. From Pahlavi I went to Tehran, where I joined the army on 23 May 1942.
5 February 1943