Kazimierz Grygorowicz, born on 21 April 1918, farmer.
I was arrested on 24 July 1940 by the Soviet authorities as a member of an anti-Soviet organization. I was taken away to Russia on 5 August. The living conditions in the Russian prison were unbearable. The interrogations were also unbearable, because we were abused terribly. Obviously we were beaten with rubber truncheons, had our fingers crushed in the doors, and, as if that were insufficient, we were kicked in the head and locked in a punishment cell for 15 days. In the punishment cell we were given 400 grams of bread, 20 grams of sugar, and half a liter of water. We were interrogated [illegible] three times per night. The investigation lasted five months and the verdict was pronounced two weeks afterwards. I was sentenced to eight years of hard prison. The trial was held in absentia. I was then taken away to a labor camp in the north. My work there involved ground works. As for the journey by rail, it was unbearable because of the cold and food. We were given 600 grams of bread and some fish every 24 hours and half a liter of water, nothing else. As for the quotas, we had to transport 12 cubic meters of sand within 8 hours to a spot 80 meters away. If we didn’t manage, we received 500 grams of bread and a liter of soup. We had to walk 12 kilometers to work. It was very cold in winter and we had no warm clothes. The housing conditions were very bad. For a start, the buildings were unheated, and secondly they were unbearably dirty – bugs bit us, etc.
I was released on 22 July 1941. I received 75 rubles for the journey and left to join the army. I ran out of money on the way, so I had to work. I joined the army on 22 April 1942.