Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, occupation, marital status):
Jadwiga Lisica, leader, born on 3 January 1924 in Krzemieniec, student, unmarried.
Date and circumstances of arrest:
I was arrested on 10 February 1940 during a lesson at a middle school and transported to a station, where I met my parents. My father was a military settler. Our settlement was located near Krzemieniec. I was arrested in Krzemieniec and my parents in the settlement. I reunited with my family at the station.
Name of the camp (prison – forced labor site):
On 18 February [1940], we left our Homeland, crossing over to the Soviet side. We traveled about a month and the Soviet authorities deployed us in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, Yarensk Raion, near Kotlas by the Vychegda River. We lived in the settlement of Lednya. We worked in the forest at tree felling.
Description of the camp or prison (grounds, buildings, housing conditions, hygiene):
Our settlement comprised 35 barracks, every family had its own “room” (we were deported). The village was surrounded by nothing but endless spruce forests. The wooden buildings were quite warm. In terms of food, the conditions were terrible. We worked hard and earned very little. The flats were quite warm and clean (floor).
The composition of POWs, prisoners, exiles (nationality, category of crimes, intellectual and moral standing, mutual relations, etc.):
Our settlement housed 120 families, including a dozen or so Ukrainian families. Around 50% of the families were those with military or intellectual background. Another 50% were people who did physical labor in Poland. All Poles were very integrated (excluding Ukrainians who would permanently hurt us). We didn’t lose our spirits, not even for a minute. We always believed that we would be saved from the clutches of our enemy. We worked and endured everything patiently, waiting for a better tomorrow. My father kept organizing secret meetings at our place and at times when almost everyone was resigned and losing heart, he encouraged us, gave hope and comforted us all. Due to these meetings, we would get in trouble and the [vice?] commandant of the settlement would make a fuss about it. However, we strongly believed that we would survive these horrible times.
Life in the camp or prison (daily routine, work conditions, quotas, wages, food, clothing, social and cultural life, etc.):
In our settlement there was always deathly silence. There were many young people, but everyone mourned for the lost homeland. In the morning we got up for work and in the evening came back cold, often caught a chill. We undressed quickly to eat some hot meals and in the evening we met at our place to talk about politics. I used to read out newspapers, etc. I worked normally, as much as I could, so that we could support our family. Those who worked were my father, older brother and me. Due to poor health, my mother and my younger brother stayed at home. We didn’t meet any quotas. The Ukrainians came to the fore. Young people lived quietly and peacefully, thinking about Poland, with no pleasures or parties. We used to lend and borrow Polish books, newspapers – we read what we had, and such were the days in and days out.
The NKVD’s attitude towards Poles (interrogation methods, torture and other forms of punishment, Communist propaganda, information about Poland, etc.):
The attitude of the NKVD authorities towards Poles was hostile. A lot of people went to the courts for being late to work, etc. I was also out in trial, but due to the fact that I was under 18, I was acquitted. The Soviet authorities followed each of the Poles. A lot of people from the settlement were arrested, deported and disappeared without a trace.
The communist propaganda was widespread. They tried to win over as many Poles as possible, but they didn’t succeed. They kept talking about Poland, boasting that our countrymen felt so well since they had started taking care of them, that they had everything they needed, that they established kolkhozes on their own and lived as never before. That they were free, happy and finally liberated.
Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality rate (provide the names of the deceased):
There was a small hospital. One of our people, Colonel Cycyniowski worked there and maybe owing to him many of us survived. A woman who graduated from a six-month school of medicine, in which she was completely inexperienced, was the chief doctor there. About 80 people died in our settlement. I don’t remember their names, as those were mainly small children and elderly people. As for the young people, my friend Maria Banaś and Jan Radecki from Równe died.
Was there any possibility to get in contact with one’s country and family?
We communicated with our home country and families until the outbreak of the German– Soviet War. Our family helped us a lot by sending food and money. The situation got a lot worse once the communication had been broken.
When were you released and how did you manage to join the army?
We waited and counted every minute for the men to be mobilized into the army. We were released from the settlement on 18 August [1941], and were told that we could go wherever we wanted. We were beyond happy. Under the leadership of my father, everyone reported their readiness to go to Buzuluk (we found out that this was where the Polish army was being formed), and left, but our family was stopped. They wanted to arrest my father – but after long efforts we broke away and arrived in Uzbekistan, since the road to Buzuluk was closed. We stayed in Uzbekistan five months in very difficult conditions. On 12 February [1942], my father and brother received draft cards and very happy left for Kermine, where the 7th Division was being formed. After a month, my father called me, my mother and my younger brother to Kanimekh. I arrived there, joined the army and worked five months at a military hospital. I was seriously ill with typhus, as was my whole family.
With the army, the conditions improved significantly. My younger brother joined the yunak company. On 10 August [1942], we left Russia with a great joy and arrived in a new country – a brighter and happier Iran.
These traumatic experiences from Russia etched in my memory for a very long time.