Volunteer Krysia Kacperska, born on 13 March 1914, Matiasy village, Kobryń district; nationality: Polish; Roman Catholic; in Poland I was a housewife.
I was arrested on 6 February 1940 for being the wife of a regular non-commissioned officer. I was deported to Russia on 20 September 1940, to Yaya gulag camp, Novosibirsk Oblast. There were 5,000 people there. I worked in a sewing workshop; we weren’t paid, it depended on the percentage [of the work quota filled]. I spent nine months there; that life was unbearable. I was punished with imprisonment in the dark cell for failure to meet the work quota. Following the amnesty, I was taken to Barnaul, where I lived in a hamlet among other Poles. There were approximately 7,000 of us. I worked in a military equipment factory and earned approximately 200 rubles per month.
As for clothes, I didn’t receive any, and as for food, I received 800 grams of bread and some soup at [illegible]. Later I broke my arm and didn’t work at all. As the wife of a non- commissioned officer, I received a monthly allowance of 50 rubles from the Representation. I left Barnaul on 20 February 1942 and went to Lugovoy, where the 10th division was being formed. I was on welfare there. On 25 March I went to Tehran.
I arrived there on 5 April 1942. I was admitted into the army on 20 May, and now everything is fine.