1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, profession, marital status):
Gunner Michał Jamróz, farmer, married.
2. Date and circumstances of arrest:
I was taken from my house at 5.00 a.m. on 10 February 1940.
3. Name of the camp, prison, forced labor site:
Arkhangelsk Oblast, Kotlas region, Nizhnyaya Striga.
4. Description of the camp, prison:
Swampy terrains; old, leaking barracks; [we slept] on iron beds with no pallets, 35 families in a single barrack. I never once received clean underwear. Bathing occurred once every two or three weeks; no bathroom, no [toilet] paper for natural needs.
5. Compositions of prisoners, POWs, exiles:
325 people; Poles, colonists, and settlers (farmers and ex-soldiers). Moral standing was good – we were expecting to be set free; relations were good – we helped each other.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
Wake-up call at 5.00 a.m.; working hours from 6.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.; curfew at 9.00 p.m. It was hard – vast swamps, wet [conditions], logging, 6 cubic meters [quota] of lumber, and they paid a ruble for 1 cubic meter. A worker would get 400 grams of bread per person, a non-worker 200 grams. One bowl of soup per one family. [Throughout] 18 months I [acquired] one clothing set for 160 rubles.
7. Attitude of the local NKVD towards the Poles:
Ruthless. One worked during the day and would be interrogated at night. Being late 15 minutes for work resulted in a punishment: for a first time [offense], they would deduct 25 percent from the salary for six months; the second time – 50 percent; and the third time – one had to work without a salary. Reason for being late: illness without a sick leave.
They would organize meetings, lectures, screenings, etc. Attendance was obligatory, and even a saying came up: “If you’re a communist, you will be fine. There’s no return to Poland, you’re working here until [illegible].”
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:
None – no medicines, one hospital for the whole region. Conditions were hard, staff was insufficient. 50 percent of the camp residents died, and 60 percent of children below 15 years of age. [Names of those who died were:] Katarzyna, Kazimierz, Józef, Czesława Jamróz; Zdzisław Halowicz; Jan Kamiński; Kuba, Mieczysław, Anna, Ewa, Zygmunt, Teresa Kustra; Jan Szałda; Jan Piskur; Kuba Staracz, and others.
9. Was there a possibility to contact one’s country and family?
Correspondence was under strict censorship.
10. When were you released and how did you manage to join the army?
On 27 September 1941, following the amnesty. I joined the Polish army on 25 February 1942 in Lugovoy, after two months of traveling on my own.