Богуслава Чорна-Брила

“…We went through Kyiv. Through Moscow we didn’t go. We went to Kyiv and from Kyiv we went… I don’t know. We went through Novosybyrsk. To my mind we went through Tomsk or Omsk… I haven’t known already. We haven’t watched after this. I wonder if we simply went for excursion it was would be interesting. We would see interesting places but it was not good time for it.”

“Then that militiaman said “Why are you sitting?” My mother was sitting in the room and she was crying. I was in the kitchen. “Why are you sitting? You will be not in prison. You will be deported. All will be necessary for you. Take all that you can.” I said “What can I take with me really just backpack.” He said “Not only backpack. Take also suitcases, linen. There carriages stand and you will be transported to it. You will not go by foot.” The car had stood outside. It was so big. They set us on it. It was near 4 p.m. It was early morning already when we have arrived to the railway station”

“…Solders had lived in the billets. They had communicated only at the streets. Officers had lived in the apartments. There were cases when they liked the apartment, so they came next night and took away…”

“…during journey they had given boiling water and some bread and nothing else. We were into luck that it was the second wave of deportation. Because during the first wave only half of the deported people got. And maybe they didn’t get. There was so frozen. There were cattle wagons. The cattle were transported by it. I had said that there was a hole near one door and we use it as toilet …”