Volunteer Franciszka Kolasa, born on 9 March 1921; before I joined the army I had been living with my parents.
I was deported with my family on 10 February 1940 to Sverdlovsk Oblast, Taborinsky region, Ozerki hamlet. Our hamlet looked like this: a clearing in the woods with 80 houses, occupied by Polish military settlers and colonists. The housing conditions were very hard, as ten people had to live in one room that was 6 meters wide and 6 meters long.
I worked in the forest at logging. The work was very hard and the remuneration so low that it was barely enough to cover food expenses. In order to make a living, we had to sell our clothes for a piece of bread; it was difficult to obtain bread even in return for money.
The attitude of the Soviet authorities towards us was very menacing.
The medical assistance and hospital care were extremely poor. We had contact with our country until the outbreak of the Soviet-German War.
Following the amnesty we left for Uzbekistan, but it was terrible there, and a lot of people starved to death.