Testimonies – “Amnesty” for the innocent

Ewa describes how they were already at the station, waiting to board a train south, when someone from the farm came to find them and bring a letter from her …

Bernarda describes how people would die and their bodies were left on the side of the tracks, with no proper burial. Her parents would not have survived the trip south, …

Dioniza describes how they learned that they were free to leave, and how they organized the trip south,.

This is the life story of Ludwik Cytera as discovered and written up by his grandson Christopher Cytera.

Describing the scene when they reached shore and what happened then.

Describing how he played the Polish hymn for soldiers at the railway station and they showered him with bread and money.

His father was unwell on the train journey south. He got off at one station, to get food and water for the family, and they never saw him again. Red …

Describing the journey south to join the Polish Army

Describing how his mother was convinced to send them to India, and their overland trip by lorry from Uzbekistan to India.

Describing how important religion was to the deportees.

Describing how they found their father wandering around, without any memory of his family. His memory returned when he heard his son call to him.

Describing the train journey south to find the Polish Army, and her father’s enlisting in the Army.

Eugenia describes how she kept wanting to save part of her bread so that she could bring it to her starving mother, but she was so hungry herself that she …

His mother died, shortly after receiving a letter from her husband saying that they will soon join the Polish Army. She was buried next to her son Kazimierz in a …

Describing how difficult the trip south was, and how many families were separated on the way.

Describing the train accident that occurred on the way to Krasnowodsk, and how seriously her mother was injured. In order to board the ship, friends disguised her mother by sitting …

Describing how he reached the Polish Army in Uzbekistan.

Describing how her mother decided to risk going south without the proper papers, and how a Russian soldier helped her by explaining what she should do on the train. At …

Describing how his father got pneumonia and died on the train heading for Uzbekistan.

Describing their life in Uzbekistan.

Remembering the ship across the Caspian Sea, then the train from Pahlevi to Teheran.

Describing how they travelled for 6 days on barges on the Amudaria River. During this time, the girl lying next to him died, and he never even saw what she …

Irena describes how the children were dying of disease and malnutrition in great numbers, then Bishop Gawlina came to give the older ones their Confirmation. One girl died right at …

Irena describes living with a young Russian couple in Uzbekistan.

Describing how her father and brother-in-law organized the trip south, and how at one stop a Russian soldier allotted a loaf of break for each of the 84 persons traveling …