WAWRZYNIEC LESZEK


Cannoneer Wawrzyniec Leszek, born in 1914 in the village of Rowiejki, Antonówka county, Sarny district, farmer, married.


I was arrested—together with my family consisting of my father, three sisters, brother, wife and two children—by the Soviet authorities on 10 February. Together with my aforementioned family, I was deported to the Vologda Oblast, Kharovsk district, Katrovskoya base. The journey lasted four days, during which my two-year-old son died in my arms. Once I had arrived, I was employed in forestry work along with my family. The work was very demanding, 14 hours a day. Housing conditions were simply hard to describe. We slept in barracks full of holes, cold and extremely dirty, beds consisted of bunks made from round logs. Earnings for work amounted to 4 rubles per day, and a kilo of bread cost 1 ruble. At the work warehouses, a working person could buy 600 grams of bread, 400 grams for children. The daily menu consisted of: soup for lunch, soup for dinner, for which we had to pay two to three rubles.

Medical assistance was almost non-existent. If anyone fell ill, the patient would lie until he recovered or died.

During my stay in the USSR my father, 2 sons and 1 daughter died.

I worked from 10 February 1940 until October 1941, I do not recall the dates.

I was drafted into the Polish army on 2 April 1942.