1. Personal data (name, surname, rank, age, profession, marital status):
Gunner Anczeł Joachimiak, born on 20 September 1916, tailor [?].
2. Date and circumstances of arrest:
I was arrested on 18 June 1940, for crossing the border.
3. Name of the camp, prison, forced labor site:
Komi ASRR, Ciubiur uhta [Chibyu-Ukhta?].
4. Description of a camp, prison:
Wooded area, the barracks were made of wood, and there were up to 120 people in a barrack. It was really tight and dirty; it was lice-infested. From time to time, there were disinfections. There were lots of bedbugs and it was cold in the barracks. You could wash yourself once every two or three weeks.
5. Composition of POWs, prisoners, exiles:
There were various exiles from the USSR area, the majority of them exiled for thievery and murders.
6. Life in the camp, prison:
We set off to work in the morning and returned when it was dark, regardless of the frost and rain. We worked in the forest; the quotas were high, and it was hard to endure it.
7. Attitude of the local NKVD towards the Poles:
Attitude of the Russians towards the Poles was very bad; there were fights all the time and stealing – whatever one had would be stolen.
8. Medical assistance, hospitals, mortality:
Medical care was very poor, so a man who fell ill had to die.
9. Was there a possibility to communicate with one’s country and family?
I didn’t have any contact with the country.
10. When were you released and how did you manage to join the army?
I was released on 5 September 1940 [?] and left in an echelon to join the Polish Army.