1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, occupation, and marital status):
Gunner Zdzisław Gorczyński, 19 years old, secondary school student, bachelor.
2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:
Arrested and deported on 13 April 1940.
3. Name of the camp, prison, place of forced labor:
Vladimirovka hamlet, Kostanay Oblast, Zatobolsky Region.
4. Description of the camp, prison:
The hamlet was inhabited mostly by kolkhoz workers, who rented out rooms in their houses. The houses were mostly made of dirt. Hygiene did not exist at all, and we always suffered from the lack of soap for cleaning and washing clothes.
5. Social composition of POWs, prisoners, deportees:
About 30 families, mostly Poles deported for having fought for Poland. A few Ukrainian families, deported for having stood up against Poland. The mutual relations between Poles were generally good, but Poles and Ukrainians were always on a war footing.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
The majority of the deportees worked in a kolkhoz or other organizations, where they were paid an absolute pittance, so most of them had to sell their stuff to be able to afford food. It was impossible to get hold of clothes there, so everyone wore the clothes they had brought with them from Poland.
7. Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:
The NKVD always had a negative attitude towards Poles, and they even forced women to work at the railroad construction site.
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:
No medical help was provided, although there was a hospital. Most of the Poles who died could have been cured, with little effort, if only some help had been provided. The following people died in the hamlet: Stefan Jabłoński, Wasyl Warzluk, Mrs. Kuncow, Wlizło, and five people whose names I have already forgotten.
9. Was it possible to keep in touch with the home country and your family?
I received letters from Poland, but very rarely, because most of them were intercepted.
10. When were you released and how did you join the army?
I was released on 1 September 1941. In February 1942, I left with a transport to join the army.