Testimonies – Soviet Forced Labour

Describing how the Russian teacher could not get the children to sing on Good Friday. The children knew instinctively that this was not done.

Eugenia describes how she and a friend went to pick mushrooms in the forest and got lost. Luckily they managed to find their way back to the camp.

Describing how her mother would sneak out of the camp to go to the local village and sell things at market, both for herself and for others in the camp.

Maria tells how her mother took to fortune-telling in exchange for food during the winter months, thereby allowing them to survive.

Maria describes the way they had to live when they arrived at the kolkhoz.

Jan describes how the bodies of those who died during winter months would be piled outside, waiting for burial in the spring. Not knowing any better, the children would play …

Jan tells how they would gather berries, mushrooms and tree sap in the forest, to help them survive.

Jan describes the work that his father and sister had to do, as well as the food rations they were given.

Czeslaw explains how he and his brother worked as goat shepherds, which provided them with more food during the short summer months. He also describes the death of his 2 …

Wanda describes the stove in the center of the barrack that was used for cooking, and the rotten vegetables they would be given.

Kazimierz describes the amenities in the camp.

Stan explains how only the children of the camp staff were sent to school. Consequently, the women got together and started a home schooling program for the Polish children. They …

Krystyna describes the work her mother did during the winter – maintaining the ice rails that were used to slide the wood out of the forest.

Jan describes how they managed to sneak loaves of bread after his brother is assigned to a delivery job during forced labour in the USSR.