Gallery – Soviet Mass Deportations
Inmates of the labour camp queue for provisions
Inmates of the labour camp queue for provisions
The Sikorski Polish Club, Glasgow, Scotland
During WWII
Poland
Polish deportees build a timber road over marsh land.
Polish deportees build a timber road over marsh land.
The Sikorski Polish Club, Glasgow, Scotland
During WWII
Poland
Deportees from a Polish town are herded into cattle wagons by the NKVD
Deportees from a Polish town are herded into cattle wagons by the NKVD
The Sikorski Polish Club, Glasgow, Scotland
During WWII
Poland
Deportation of a family from their home by the Bolsheviks
Deportation of a family from their home by the Bolsheviks
The Sikorski Polish Club, Glasgow, Scotland
During WWII
Poland
Levelling of land for Soviet military operations by “lagiernikow” (gulag prisoners) in northern Russia
Levelling of land for Soviet military operations by “lagiernikow” (gulag prisoners) in northern Russia
The Sikorski Polish Club, Glasgow, Scotland
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc24
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc24 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc28
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc28 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc29
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc29 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc30
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc30 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc33
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc33 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc34
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc34 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc3
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc3 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc16
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc16 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc17
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc17 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc18
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc18 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc19
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc19 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc20
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc20 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc21
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc21 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc22
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc22 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc23
Sprawiedliwość Soviecka_Ryc23 - public domain
Sprawiedliwość Sowiecka, by S Mora and P Zwierniek, Włochy 1945
During WWII
Poland
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 11
Eventually he reached posiolek Vitunino and was overjoyed when he found his family. They lived in a room, about 6m x 4m, which they shared with 2 other families. Each room had a brick stove for heating and cooking. Along the walls were bunk beds on which people sat. slept and ate.
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Russia
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 12
The majority of deportes, over 1000, worked as tree fellers for very poor money and even poorer food.
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Russia
Cattle cars to Siberia
Cattle cars to Siberia
Russia
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 8
Drawing of workers in the Siberian forest. Telesfor's story can be read in "Stalin's Ethnic Cleansing".
During WWII
Russia
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 1
The illustrations in the book were drawn by Telesfor Sobierajski and the texts are taken from his own story, one of many included in "Stalin's Ethnic Cleansing".
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Poland
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 3
Telesfor was 14 when he was deported in Feb/March 1940. He had been away at school in Pinsk when his family was taken on 10th Feb. He was taken to Rowne, first to a large synagogue full of people, mostly women and children. They were guarded by a sheepskin-clad Soviet soldier who wore a strange pointed cap and held a rifle fixed with a long thin bayonet.
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Poland
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 4
A few days later they were loaded into cattle trucks with wooden bunks on both sides of the door, an iron stove in the centre and with a hole cut into the floor to serve as a toilet. 50 people were squashed into this wagon!
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Russia
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 5
They travelled for over 2 weeks through Kiev, Moscow and Gorkiy
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Russia
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 6
From the wagon they looked out in terror at a tall wooden fenced enclosure with an observation tower at each corner. The palisade itself was formed from sharp-pointed posts each 3 metres in height! Telesfor was devasted to find out that none of his family members were here.
Janusz Skarzyński
During WWII
Russia
Telesfor Sobierajski drawing 7
He spent the summer working at the camp and in September received permission to travel to Archangel and then to Kotlas to join his family. He travelled by train and then by boat on the River Dvina. After Christmas he had to complete his journey by foot.
Telesfor Sobierajski
During WWII
Russia