1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, occupation, marital status):
Stanisław Grudzień, 27 years old, farmer, bachelor.
2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:
My whole family and I were taken away from Poland on 10 February 1940. At 5.00 a.m., my whole family, with hand luggage, was taken to a train at Hermanówka station.
3. Name of the camp, prison, place of forced labor:
Altai Krai, the hamlet of Bobrovka (Siberia). A wooden barrack in the forest, forced labor – loading wood onto railcars.
4. Description of the camp, prison:
Accommodation (barracks) in the forest. There was no shortage of firewood, but we were plagued by vermin (bedbugs). The mosquitoes and flies were unbearable in summer.
5. Social composition of POWs, prisoners, deportees:
Only Poles (families), high morale, excellent mutual relations.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
We got up at the sound of the sawmill whistle at 7.00 a.m. Our work was to load wood onto railcars, which was very tough. The pay was low, there was no quota, we were paid depending on the number of railcars we had managed to fill, more or less 12–15 rubles per day. Food was good (we bought it by ourselves), but it was very difficult to get clothes. There was no social or cultural life. We were not allowed to leave the barracks.
7. Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:
The NKVD treated Poles very badly, carrying out thoughtless investigations, accusing us of various crimes, extorting testimonies by locking people in punishment cells for five to eight days. They tried to convince us, spreading their propaganda, that Poland would never exist again and that we should work for the benefit of the USSR.
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:
Medical help was very limited, mortality was very high.
9. Was it possible to keep in touch with the home country and your family?
I had no contact with my home country (under German occupation).
10. When were you released and how did you join the army?
I was released on 27 October 1941. I joined the Polish army on 28 February 1942 in the town of Gortshakovo.