1. Personal data:
Gunner Kazimierz Grabowski, 25 years old, farmer.
2. Date and circumstances of the arrest:
Arrested on 13 April 1940 in Skomorochy as a danger to the Soviet state (my brother was an officer, I was a Polish soldier engaged in political activities).
3. Name of the camp:
Oktyabrsky Sovkhoz, from 28 April 1940 to 9 February 1942.
4. Description of the camp:
Even terrain, steppe. Wooden buildings. Housing conditions: dark, dirty, cramped.
5. Social composition of prisoners:
Poles, Russians, Kyrgyz people. Crime category – deportees. Average intellectual standing. Interpersonal relations mediocre.
6. Life in the camp:
Ground works from dawn to dusk, with a two-hour break. Tough working conditions. 100 percent quota. No pay. Bad food. Very good camaraderie. No cultural life.
7. Attitude of the NKVD towards Poles:
Hostile. Punishments, deductions, increased quotas. Highly-developed communist and anti- religious propaganda. News about Poland: officers and policemen [had been shot dead?], we would never see Poland again.
8. Medical assistance:
Poor. One hospital. Average mortality.
9. Was it possible to keep in touch with the home country and your family?
Before the Soviet-German war, the contact was limited; after the outbreak of the war, there was none.
10. When were you released and how did you join the army?
I was released on 9 February 1942 and I joined the Polish army with the help of the Soviet authorities.