1. Personal data:
Rifleman Antoni Cyganik, 36 years old, locksmith, unmarried.
2. Date and circumstances of arrest:
In Złoczów, on the night of 22/23 June 1940, together with my brother. We were suspects because we were Poles and refugees. I spent a month in the Złoczów prison, and later I was zaklyuchennyy [a prisoner] in several camps.
3. Name of the camp:
The camp was situated in Medvezhyegorsk, in the Karelo-Finnish Republic. Following the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the prisoners were confined to the so-called spec- zona, and subsequently deported to the area of Sverdlovsk, Ural, where we remained until our release on 18 February 1942.
4. Description of the camp:
Wooded, swampy area. Accommodation in barracks. No sanitary facilities. Lice and bugs. Plenty of rats – indeed so many that they gnawed at the ears and nose of one of the dead.
5. The composition of prisoners:
There were approx. 1,500 Poles alone, including a dozen or so women. Many were refugees from the German-controlled territory, from Silesia. There were a certain number of Jews and several dozen Ukrainians. As far as professions are concerned, there were representatives of a variety of vocations. Polish citizens were all accused of some form or other of counter- revolutionary activity. Generally the inmates had high morals and were patriotic.
6. Camp life:
We worked at logging and building railway lines. We had to work from dawn to dusk, 12–14 hours on average. There were also night shifts. We received food from one of three “caldrons”, depending on the percentage of the work quota that one managed to fill during a given day. For filling 100% of the quota we received 1,000 grams of bread. We were issued clothes only when it was absolutely necessary. Due to overwork and hunger, any cultural life was out of the question.
7. The NKVD’s attitude towards Poles:
I myself wasn’t especially harassed, except for the cursing, shooting right next to my ears etc., that I suffered during interrogation. It was known, however, that in the prison in Złoczów torture was widely used. During my later stay in Russia, the NKVD men behaved quite decently, although there were cases of people being forced to work and other similar incidents. Persistent Communist propaganda was spread at meetings and through the press. They disseminated falsehoods about Poland.
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality rate:
We received medical assistance from a good doctor, a Jew from Poland, who was an inmate himself. The hospital was too small. Diseases were: scurvy, general exhaustion. The mortality rate was rather high; at least 10%. From the group of 75 Silesian miners almost all died, mostly of hunger. Hunger swelling was very common, especially in the zona and in Ural.
9. Contact with the home country:
Contact with our country was very poor. We were allowed to write letters, but we didn’t receive any answers.
10. When were you released?
On 8 February 1942; I was granted permission to leave for Rombersk [?]. A liaison officer there sent me to Chelyabinsk, and then to Chok-Pak, where on 18 March 1942 I appeared before the draft board.
L.S., 19 January 1943