The Long March (Part Two)

DEPOSITION: DETAILS.
Being on Polish territory from 15th. NOVEMBER — 18th DECEMBER 1940
In Cholyczowka — 5 — 7 km from Korzec and in Ewczdoma 0.3 km from Korzec—
I noticed the following among the local population in that period:-

The locals were well stocked up with food and lived as they used to pre-war times under the Polish government. But when the N.K.V.D. started to visit individual inhabitants, there began confiscation of food supplies and taking away of certain families during the night. We began to hear weeping, and cursing of the N.K.V.D. members. The families of all nationalities visiting, their husbands or mothers, were waiting with longing for the return of Polish rule.

Food until the end of DECEMBER ’40 was fairly good on Polish territories (.) gave to peasants had (who) buried their food supplies, and what was needed for the morrow was disinterred during the night and taken home. There was a complete lack of sugar, salt and matches.

I remembered the wishes of my companions. I went to Korzec escorted by a NKVD guard with a bayonet. We were met by the commander of the K.O.P. guardhouse ( KOP troops guarding the frontier) He gave me 3 Kg of sugar and this ended my shopping for sugar in Korzec, because in the Co-operative was a Jewish official — he answered me in Russian — “ No sugar.” When I asked him whether he had forgotten his Polish, he answered”As long as I live, I don’t want to be in Poland, nor shall I speak Polish.”
The NKVD guarding me was complaining at the scarcity of food products in Russia: ‘No sausages, no white bread, no flour, and little grain of any kind.’ He told me that here he was on a “cure.”
When in Korzec in OCTOBER?? I witnessed officers, NCOs and other ranks buying food and manufactured goods of all kinds in large quantities. When I asked them why they were buying so much they answered, ’At home you get as much as your norm (allocated amount) -
He who works and attains 100% of his norm receives 800 grams of bread.
110% “ “ “ “ Kg of black bread. The family if not working get 400 gr. In the canteens soup — very thin and difficult to get.’
When asked why such hardship they answered, ‘We give everything to the men at the front fighting the war with Finland.’

Things were different in Wojtowce near Wolocwysk 24th DECEMBER 1941(40) when we met with the inhabitants of the Kolhoz (State Farm) we began to tell them about the living conditions of the workers in Poland. At the beginning they refused to believe us but when they saw our works papers, our savings books, watches, cigarette cases and rings they said, ‘we had never seen such things and we shall never see such things either!’

A Pole who had settled in Wojtowce told me, “They had awaited the war as a salvation, hoping that the Poles would come and liberate them from their red oppressors.” Such ways of thinking were among 80% of the population around Kamieniec Podolski. Ending his conversation he told me, “I work day and night and I get 400gr of bread daily, in the morning tea without sugar, lunch — soup, no second course. In the evening- soup for which you have to queue for 2 hours.”
In the Kolhoz the carpenter earned 7 roubles daily and clothing was completely unobtainable in Wojtowce. They bought civilian clothing from us paying for a second hand suit 600- 800 roubles. Shoes 200- 300 rbls, a watch which in Poland cost 6 zolties was sold to a friend for 1,200 rbls. There was still a supply of cigarettes, at that time the price was 60 kopeks to 2 rbls 50.

Around the 10th MAY ’41(40) we were sent from Wojtowce to Teofipol in order to build an air field. On the air field I met with the civilian population who began to tell us that they where there with their horses without any food supplies for the people or the horses. They had been travelling already four days and they had so far only 2 meals — one of my companions whose name is Apolenary Naskiewisz asked why they were so poor, he was answered — “Here the NKVD live well and the Jews live well, the rest will be forced to die.”

The price of sugar Teofipol is 15 — 18 rbls per kilo, the official price — 4rbls 50.
Butter 30 rbls “ kilo “ “ “ 18rbls.
At that time the inhabitants of Teofipol crossed over to the Polish side to buy: bread, grain, butter and other food stuffs. If a smuggler was caught by the Russians he was given at least 3 years in prison.

2. When talking with the Kolhoz inhabitants, they said ‘That they worked without a break. Days off were only on paper. Productivity is poor because the members of the Kolhoz wanted to have their own land,’ said ‘they had worked sufficiently for the Jews.’

3. The local population in the Ukraine hated the Soviet authorities - said, ‘They would prefer to pay taxes twice as high just to be in free Poland.’

4. I give some information on the NKVD organisation of the camp of the polish prisoners

1. Camp commandant wages 800 — 1000 roubles. 2. The political wages 800 rbls
3. Inspector “ 600. 4. Accountant 250.
5. (Un translated) 75 6. (Un known) Un/k.
7. Store keeper 50. 8. Laundry manager 35.
9. Chief cook 35. 10. Cook 30.
11(Un translated) 500

Punishments varied for escaping through the tunnel excavated by the brothers Apolenary and Teofil Naskiewicz and by Stefan Radzeszewski. 2nd Lt Marjan Maciejoujk received 5 years imprisonment and was sent to a special camp in Gwozdow(m)a, which prison he went to I do not know.
5. I do not know.
6. During the march from Teofipol to Zolotonosz — route of more than 750km, I saw the evacuation by the Soviet people of all kinds of machinery, they took even the corn, and sheets of metal covered in corrosion. They destroyed the uncut corn by flattening it. In other words, what they had time for they took with them.
7. during my journey from Teofipol to Starobielska and from Starobielska to Tock,
Between 22nd JUNE - 8th OCTOBER 1941- I saw the following:-
Around 20th JUNE we were entrained in Zolotonosz. Twenty minutes after that there came from the direction of the river Driepr a German plane — around 2 — 4 pm — which dropped three bombs. The bombs fell on the wagon in front of the one I was in. In that carriage a prisoner was killed by a machine gun bullet became from Wilno/ro(window). On the platform (beside) my carriage Corp., Stanislaw Czarry, from Lwow was badly wounded. He was taken unconscious to hospital in Zolotnosz . 12 people were wounded during the raid I saw in Tock. Corp Czarry was with me in the camp in Cholyczowka, he was married with one child, a boy. He was in the 6th Aci regiment in Lwow.
8. I do not know.
9. Ditto.
10. I talked with the older people living in Wojtowce, Teofipol and Archangel and they believe in God and miss the Orthodox Church. One can meet young people who think the same but they are few. The law, they say, proclaims freedom to believe, at the same time the believers hide this as the NKVD comes in the night and takes them to prison.
13. — 18 I. D.N. Know.
19. On 18th SEPTEMBER 1939 after the defeat of the 211 squadron by soviet tanks ( those?? who were on foot) I was taken prisoner. The officer in charge was observer Lt.Gumkowski from the 1 Aci regiment, and the technical officer was Lt.Unger. This took place near Dubno.. I came on the Soviet troops at the crossroads some 9 kms from Dubno.
I buried the revolver in the woods, the ammunition I had used up on the Soviet troops during the attack by the tanks the (Our) right wing was killed in the potato fields — the surnames I do not remember as the majority were from the reserves. But there were other ranks in Russia. Nikolay Czykita and Lech Ropelewski will be able to give the names of those killed as they were in the right wing. I saw Lt.Unger in Dubno as a prisoner of the Russians. I do not know the fate of Lt. Gumkowski, maybe he is in England.
That same day they marched us to the barracks in Dubno. I was there for five- six days. The living conditions and food were hopeless, and as one could, one looked after oneself.
25 SEPTEMBER1939 — They took us to the railway station at Dubno, promising we would all be sent home, but we found ourselves at Szepietowce around 1st OCTOBER 1939. During the three day stay there the Russians took our personal details and confiscated knives, razors and any gasmasks. In Szepietowce we slept in the open and it rained. During the three day stay I was fed only once and I felt dizzy as the result of hunger.
From Szepietowce they took us to Nowograd - Volynski.
Detraining in Nowograd - Volynski took place around 8th OCTOBER 1939 Here the conditions were even worse, lice joined us in our hunger. A Polish communist —Henryk Nita, (50) from Warsaw took over the food depot in Nowograd -- Volynski and despite the fact that the Soviets ordered he should distribute the food according to their norms; he gave it out as he saw fit. He maintained that should it happen that Poland would ever exist. It would be as a communist country; he also said he had spent time in Warsaw prisons for his communist activities. Following a discovery of a fraud he was dismissed and became a POW.

In Nowograd we ate our meal at midnight. The prisoners were so hungry they threw themselves at the store and upset it, spilling the food on the ground, rather that putting it into their stomachs — in spite of this every thing was eaten up.

4th NOVEMBER 1939 we were sent from Nowograd to Cholyczowka on the Polish side of the border — 350 men. At the crossing of the frontier we saw the border post over the Rowa, and the White eagle in a shameful manner bespattered with mud. Tears overflowed from our eyes, but we wiped them and began to sing ‘Poland Has Not Perished Yet’ (National Anthem). The Bolsheviks guarding us did not say a word.

By the morning of the 5th NOVEMBER ‘39 we had been driven to Cholyczowka, where they gave us three days to recover. On the 8th NOVEMBER they drove us on to the quarries at Gwozdowic. The norm for a prisoner was? of stone 3 metres, hand drilling - 1 metre, chipping the stone -1 metre. If fulfilled, the prisoner got 800 grams of bread.
During our stay in Cholyczowka we were helped a great deal by a Pole, Marjan, Niekrasz living in Zawodna near Korzec. He and his wife brought fried chicken, twice weekly, then collected food from the nearby inhabitants and brought it to our camp. This lasted 4/5 weeks until 15th DECEMBER 1939. To the escaping prisoners he gave civilian clothing and he guided them to safety — in other words my gratitude to Niekrasz is hard to express.

In FEBRUARY 1940 the time came when we were tormented by lice and hunger. Everyone — including all nationalities refused to go to work. Nothing deterred us, neither pleadings nor threats of the man in charge or the political boss nor other red slave drivers. The revolt lasted seven days, during which time we were surrounded by heavy machine guns ready to fire. On the second day of our revolt, the local authorities seeing that they could not cope with us, advised the NKVD authorities in Rowno.

From Rowno came the Bolsheviks, asking for the reasons why we refused to work. We answered, lead us home as the 15th DECEMBER 1939 had long passed.- I shall mention
Here the name of Corporal Adam Gorecki , to whom a lot of us owe our lives.
So at the moment the punishment company from Cholowice arrived with the lieutenant to quash our revolt, entering our room saying (approximate) ‘I will give you Poles 5 minutes to get out of here and go to work, If you don’t I shall order the troops to shoot. On these words we all rushed at the lieutenant. The Corporal stood in the doorway and held us all back. If he had not done this the lieutenant would have been murdered and 60% of us would have been killed by his troops. Gorecki was un/pr/ (omised / promoted?) for his various acts of responsibility, but Gorecki, a good Pole said ‘I shall accept the leader position when you will be a prisoner in Polish camps.’ Slowly the Bolsheviks started to take out the guilty ones and lead them to other camps. I found myself with twenty-one others accused as enemies of the Soviet alliance and we were sent to a so called special camp, where I stayed until 18th DECEMBER 1940.

In the Gwozdowisko camp the man in charge was called Wlasienko, a committed
communist and wholly on the Soviet side. Lately I have seen him in Tock, already in the Polish army, with the rank of sergeant. Another communist was Gailicki Alexander, from Lodz, never the less he does not agree with the political system in Russia and when it came to the good name of Poland, he always defended it.
I note the names I remember sent to the special camp in Gwozdow:-
1 and 2. Apolinary and Teofil Naskiewicz. 3. Stefan Radziszewski.
4. Zbigniew Czeckowski. 5. Jozef Wismewski. 6. Henryk Swiecicki.
7. Piotr Malinowski. 8. Waclaw Skinder. 9. Zbigniew Wajszulc. 10. ? Lipinski

In Gwozdowic we remained in the special camp until 18thDECEMBER 1940. There we were sentenced in our absence and shortly the Bolsheviks sent us to prison. Fate decreed on that date we set out for Wojtoncow on the Russian side of the border. We arrived on the 27th DECEMBER ‘40. Christmas Eve I spent digging holes for barbed wire posts. The first and second days of Christmas were spent likewise at work. At breaks for tea we were hopeful that our wrongs we shall avenge. In Wojtowce we worked at the railway station in unloading stones. The work was heavy, the food poor. We were quartered in a pig sty, with our constant companions — the lice.

From Wojtowce they sent us to Teofipol in order to build an airstrip. We remained there until the outbreak of the Soviet/ German war.

On 22nd JUNE 1941 began the dreadful march to Zolotonosha. We marched day and night in very difficult conditions and they gave us only 200grms of bread and water when a prisoner fell down. During a raid by German bombers there was no chance to disperse — even a step to the right or left resulted with a bullet in the head. One of our friends Corp. Stanislaw Kirpinski, from Radom, fell unconscious and I never saw him again. We could give no help as the guards forbade it. Around 10th JULY ‘41 we reached Zolotonosz and they loaded us into railway trucks to transport us to Starobielska.

We reached Starobielska on the 15th JULY 1941. There after spending four weeks, on the 15th AUGUST we were incorporated into the Polish army, then 3rd SEPTEMBER our happy departure to Tock, which we reached 9th September ’41. In Tock I was ordered to go to Koltubiauka and on the 12th NOVEMBER we boarded a train — Tashkent, Kujbysier in order to report at Koltubiauka 15th NOVEMBER. We left Koltubiauka 29th NOV ’41 for Archangel where we arrived on the 21st DECEMBER ’41. Our next departure —16th JANUARY 1942.for Murmansk - arrived 21st JANUARY ’42 and arrived in England (Glasgow) 1st FEBRUARY 1942.

18th Sept 1939 Taken Prisoner — Dubno, until 24/25 Sept 39
25th Sept 39 Dubno — Szepietowce - 1 Oct 39
4th Oct 39 Szepietowce - Novograd-Volynski 6 — 8 Oct 39
8th October 39 Detraining at Novograd-Volynski
4th November 39 Novograd V. — Driven — Cholyczowka (Polish side).5th Nov 39 recovery 3dys.
8th November 39 Cholyczowka - Gwozdowic Quarries. 18th December ‘40
Special camp until 18th Dec
February 1940 Lice/ Hunger Revolt. Special Camp at Gwozdowski
Sentenced in their absence to Wojtowice. (Russian side).

18th December ’40 Gwozdowski - Wojtowice 27th December ‘40
(Digging holes 24 Dec - Wojtowce railway unloading stones).

22nd June 1941 Wojtowce — dreadful march - Zolotonosz V. 10th July 41
10th July 41 Zolotnosz V. — into rail trucks - Starobielska. 15th July
15th August 41 (incorporated into Polish Army).
3rd September 41 — happy to Tock — 9th September 41
12 November 41 Tock — Train — Tashkent, Kujbysier, Koltubianca. 15 Nov 41.
29th November 41 Koltubianca — Archangel 21st Dec 41
16th January 1942 Archangel — Murmansk 21 Jan ’42.
1st February 1942 - Glasgow.

Stefan’s ambition in the 1940’s was to bring his children and wife to England, however he like many Poles was not able to at the time. Nor were they able to travel back to Poland with certainty for many years. He made his life in England.

He had a child with a woman who had also left two children in another country.
He died in England in 1957 and is buried in the Polish Cemetery near Preston, Lancs.
I hope this is a fitting testimony to his and many other lives.

While every endeavour has been taken to spell and the names of Polish men and Polish and Russian places, some of the places do not appear to be on my atlas and the translation is hand written and it appears that some places have been spelt in two different ways.

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