Mowka Milikowski, born in 1911, Polish citizen, Jewish, manual worker, married.
I was detained on 24 September 1939 in Kowel [Kovel].
We were put to hard work in the prisoner-of-war camp. The set quota was so high that it was impossible to meet, which resulted in very nasty consequences, namely, such a minimal food ration that people simply could not stand on their feet due to hunger. After two weeks, along with others, I was transported to Kryvyi Rih, where we mined iron ore.
By working eight hours a day, I was able to earn 700-800 rubles a month, which was enough for me to eat, and I could even occasionally send money to my wife, who lived in Wołkowysk [Vawkavysk] at the time. I received letters from my wife.
The housing conditions were good, we lived in wooden barracks. There was agreement and harmony among us, we helped each other, and when the Russians guarding us would tell us that there would be no Poland and that we’ll never return to our homeland, we all – be it a Belarusian, Pole, Ukrainian or Jew – refuted it, laughed in their faces, and awaited the moment of liberation.
We had good medical care.
I had stayed in eight camps before the amnesty. The hardest moments were those when I was transported from camp to camp. We often went on foot for several days or for more than week with only a small piece of bread. The escorting boitsy [lower ranking soldiers] were so inhumane that they were capable of kicking, beating, and slandering people just because a fainting person had drunk some water handed to him by a merciful woman.
I was released at the end of August 1941 in Starobilsk, where I immediately joined the Polish Army, 6th Division.