cold and the ground had a thick covering of snow. We were taken to the local train station by horse and sled.

The train was very long consisting of about forty goods wagons. Each wagon contained four or five families. In our wagon there were twenty seven people including small children. The wagons were locked most of the time. The doors were opened occasionally during the long journey when we were allowed to remove the dirty hay and empty the bucket. There were no facilities inside the wagon and everyone had to use the same bucket which often tipped over spilling the contents as the wagon would rock from side to side. During the few occasions that we did see the sunlight, we were given bread, soup and water. Armed guards on the train made sure that we did not cause problems.

We travelled for thirteen days and nights. Finally we arrived at the town of Pavlodar in Kazakstan where we were loaded onto ships on the river Irtish. Another three nights and two days took us to a small town, the name of which I cannot remember. We were all herded into the town square where we sat for another four or five days. It was cold but finally lorries came and took us south to a small river port called Moscik about one hundred and ten kilometers north of Semiplatinsk. At a labour camp my family and I were put to work in the timber yard. We were assigned to a hut or barrack ( five square metres ) which we had to share with another family. I worked in the timber yard for seven months after which I spent eight months in a garage. Then I was sent to the forest to cut trees for another three months.

From 13th April 1940 to the middle of February 1941 was the worst time of my entire life. Winter was very cold with temperatures as low as minus fifty degrees centigrade. I was hungry most of the time. We were given bread rations every three days which I soon learned should not be eaten in one day. There was never enough food, we were on a starvation diet. Sometimes we had to steal or barter for food. It was survival of the fittest. My father, Ivan was an old man and became weak as time went by. He told me that his greatest fear was to die and be buried without the presence of a priest. He died in May 1945, buried in an unmarked grave without the last rites being administered.

On 23d June 1941 we were told at a meeting of the exiles that the Soviet Union was at war with Germany as Hitler had invaded the previous day. Upon hearing the announcement there was no emotion but quietly and secretly we felt happy. For me this would somehow mean that a way out of Siberia was possible as men would be needed to fight in the war. I hated Stalin and I hated communism, we all did. Many Poles died in the Siberian camps of the cold, starvation and slave labour.

In February 1942 there was a general mobilization of Polish subjects to the Polish Army. Only my brother Teodor and I were able to leave. Viera stayed to take care of my father. The meeting area was in southern Russia. On the way to the Polish Army I traveled from Moscik to Pavlodar which was a distance of two hundred and fifty kilometers by horse and camel. From Pavlodar I went by train to Novosibirsk