Volunteer Irena Rejniak, born on 19 November 1921 in the village of Podberezeń, Łuck district, Nieświcz commune, wołyńskie voivodship; nationality: Polish; religious affiliation: Roman Catholic; category “A”; I was with my parents.
On 10 February1940 I was driven away, together with my family of seven people (without my father), to Russia, to the Arkhangelsk Oblast, Solvychegodsk region, Sumirachna rural settlement. Our rural settlement consisted of ten barracks. There were about one thousand people from Poland living in eight of them.
I was working in the forest for 19 months. For my work I was receiving a payment of three rubles a day. I was working with my brother and sister, and we received 600 grams of bread for a worker and 300 grams of bread for a non-worker. Bread and food in general were very expensive. We didn’t have enough money, and we didn’t have any possessions because they didn’t let us take anything.
As for contact with the country, we received several letters, but we didn’t get any packages at all. From 20 June 1941 we didn’t receive anything. During the German-Russian war things were really bad. I was punished for coming to work late, for being 15 minutes late I got eight months and they were keeping 25% of what I was earning.
The amnesty was declared on 28 October 1941. In spite of that, living conditions didn’t improve. For 4 months’ work we received four kilograms of wheat bran for seven people. I left the rural settlement on 5 November 1941 and went to Uzbekistan to Guzar. There I was in the Molotov kolkhoz and I was working at digging canals. Then I joined the Army on 8 March 1942. Life in the Army was really good. From Guzar I went to Teheran, and from there together with the army to Iraq.