MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ON ELK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000300170006-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 3, 2013
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: February 26, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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1.p,e
COUNiOr#Olind
CONFIDENTIAL
SUS3EcT?

on Elk
DATE r frOoliNiAncit4
PLAc(A woo-
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
REPORT NO.
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,...tD,ATE DISTR. 96 lot. 1964
NO: OF PAGES 8'
i,--v
REFERENCES:
Location and General Description
1. The town of?i Elk 4 53-50, E 22-22/ was located about 96 km. north-
west of Bialysto LN 53-08, E 23- about 1 0 km. northeast
of Wareaw. It was situated on a lake
no.' know; the Ilk River flowed through the town.Tecy s on
a multi-track, standard gamge RR line that made connections with
411 points in Poland. gee memory sketchg
2. E1)c had about 24,000 inhabitants.
70% or
thele inhabitant* were women and children up to the age of 15.
men in thi foirn were mostly young men in their early twenties
50X1 -wale mostly from farms. Most-of the residents
pre rprmer displaced persons who had come to Elk in about 1945
pp*.
such pIaoes as Imov, the region of territritk,of
thi?fegions of Tarnopol, and Central Poland; the speech
acteristics of the inhabitants of Elk included colloquial
e ritilonilad-adOents peculiar to these areas. There did not
seeml to be 01:4reat difference in customs between the various
ro4i-Of the Ellf-tioplilation; but as to clothing, the migrants
rAML the hinterland were easily recognizable by their large heavy
boets and bilky-clothing. They preferred0 to wear wool caps
inktead of hats, the normal headgear in the city; and in winter
they wore the heavy sheep-lined Mackinaw coats.
There was no law Aich restrictiethe movimidts Of the local popu-
lattqn. Within the town people were free to go wherever they chose.
If i person wsntedito leave the town of Elk for about a week to
visita dity (for example, Poznan), it was necessary for him to
tpoit to the Mitacipal People's Council (Mtaijska Rada Narodowa)
w 1.0h issued to him a statement that he was making a visit to
ttlBaA. This statement wit to be presented to the clerk at the
hetet In Peinan *here the person intended to stay. However, if
'Tip planned to stay with friends, this statement was not necessary.
CONFIDENTIAL
SECURITY INFORMATION
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at was merely an aid in helping one to identify oneeelf, because
hotels were almost always checked by Citizente-POlide (Milicja
Obywatelska - MO) who searched for people without proper identifi-
cation. In order to move permanently from the town of Elk to a
city such as Poznan it was nedessary for one first to present to
the Municipal Pevle's Council sufficient reason for moving.
The most common and acdeptable reason was proof of having been
accepted for work in Poznan. In making a permanent move, one
would have his name deleted from the record of.residence in the
office of the Municipal People's Council and upon arrival in
Poznan he would have his name added to the records of the Poznan
Municipal People's Council.
4. There was no regular check of the personal documents of individuals.
The checking of documents, which occured least frequently of all
In the streets, was done at random. However, hotel residents
could expect to be checked regularly, perhaps because the Citizen's
Police felt that the probability was greater of finding outsiders
at a hotel. (If one disturbed the peace, his documents would
certainly be checked.)
a.
Among his documents,
\would have to be one's Military Booklet which con-
tained his service record; and the Work Booklet, which showed
the type and place of occupation.
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5.
. Relations between the civilian population and the members of
the military were friendly. Civilians mixed easily with
soldiers.
There was a critical shortage of housing space Every available
lace to live, including badly floored base:;:s, was being used
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in Elk. People seemed always to be iooking for a
p ace o live. The sporadic building ofnew.,residences was
negligible, hardly enough to take care of the demand.
Collectivization
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6.
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There appeared to be very little collectivization,
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there was no collectivization in the following villages;
Monki, which was about 60 km, northeast of Elk; Morzy, about three
kilometers northeast of Elk; Siedlisko, about- three kilometers
southeast of Elk; Ruda, 25 km. northeast of Elk; and Nowa Wies,
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about six kilometers east of Elk. the most collectivi-
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zation was taking place somewhere to the north of Elk.
storage however, was probably in the
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railroad warehouses point 36 on the
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sketch . As to tra lie oe-tween rural areas anc Elk,
501
there was very little.
' Railroads
7. The Elk RR line had no special name. This RR line, as well as
others in Poland, was referred to as the State Railroad (Pan-
Awowa Kole j ). Its tracks were standard gauge. There was a
narrow gauge, double.track that crossed the bridge Point 20 on
the attached sketdg. This narrow gauge track extended as far
of Wisniewa, which was about 30 km. southeast of Elk;
50X1 it went beyond Wisniewa. Small passenger trains and
mes small freight trains travellW this route.
The Elk RR station point 21 on the Sketdg, had only one building.
This building was about 70 m. long, 25 m. wide, and two stories
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-igh. It was or triaa inxtructloa. The blinding housed the
.iisineseoi? 4..1-roaa, Liaket sales Windows, Pest rooms,
a waiting.rc4on, a smil reareatioa room, a restaurant, and a
telegraph statioh
There were iaar paasenger platforms Lee Sketeg.
b. A tunnel led from RR statio to the platforms. There
was also a tunnel :_aaalgnatea ,Jt.1, Point 22 on Sketeg .that
led undec the W :racks from Ogrodowa Street to the RR station.
The tunal waa about 50 m. long, 3 m. wide, and about 2i m.
high, It waa 1.1neJ with tile.
9. There were about aia atanaara 6augz HR tracks between the passenger
atation and the felt Ilere also villa the marshalling
area. The freigh't low barracks-type ?
building 50 to 80 m. iangh It nad aae loading ramp. There was
rv.:, roundhouse or paiwer probably done in
Bialystok.
10. \
-"Most of the outgoing freight
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b
was agricultural,
the aquipment included about three
assenger aare, and about thirty freight
appErr.r o in good condition.
The RR tracks were under
referred to as SOK's
They wore
:aanstant -uard b- ra
_ r
ue un orms an c r e earInes.
Bridges gumbers refer to legend design&t;_o-clax
.11. a. Railroad Bridge ilad a ata,,,aai.a
bridge was of coilveve, reinfo. by. 711th vertical ecT3-
? crete supporta. it was about T-6, about 7 m. high.
b.? Railroad Bridge No. 20 had a 1-'.ro4 gag e double track. It
was about 50 m.- long and T m, ,igh. The bridge was of concrete,
reinforced by steel, with concrete, vertical supports.
e. Bridge No. 32 was a vehicle and pedestrian bridge of concrete,
reinforced by steel. It was about 130 m, in length, 10 m.
wide, and 7 m. high.
d. Bridge No. 33 was a vehicle and. pedestrian bridge of concrete,
reinforced by steel, with vertical concrete supports. It was
about 70 m. in length, 10 m. wide, and about 4-5 m. high.
e. Bridge No. 34 was a wooden, pedestrian footbridge; it could
support no vehicle traffic. It was about 25-30 at. in length,
3-4 a. wide, and about 3 m. high.
Bridge No. 35 was a wooden, pedestrian foot bridge. It was
about 35 m. in length, about three meters wide, and three
meters high.
Street,
12. a. Stree- fUlica) Wojska Polskiego was paved with hard brick
but beyond the town the paving was asphalt.
-,Ighway led 80 km. north to Suwalki.
b.
:
/o was a ea with rd brick.
-IDENTIAL
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' vwsrimppw.L.Am
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* luwalska was paved with hard'biilek,' -but- Wag aiiphalt
yOmd the town. All roads in the town were btiok paved.
e 9 were no bottlenecks, and there were no particular diffi-
100 Ph these roads during the various seasons. The traffic
S'very'light, consisting mostly' of military and government
414TiOi 1 vehicles such as ZI8-5, ZIS-150 GAZ-151 and Rua:It:in
JeePs-
Inland Waterrap
))0 13 The k Rive f owe from east to wept.
it emptied into tam oca e. on
O 0 0 on. A its widest Part the river was about 25 m., and
at it'll harrOweat part it might have been four meters. The velocity
of the gUrtent was about 10 km. per hour. In the spring the river
50X1 had A tendency to overflow its batik* but With, no serious effects
to ?rprndingarea
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14.
The 100\*
side Pr the town. It was about 5
some places it reached a depth of
With. Other lakes in the area and
source of drinking water.
there are no
Communications
?15.
a
liras located on the west
los.ong and 1,20 meliide. In
eight-meterit. The lake connected
it -was' used as the
7
,!coly teipheme exchange was located in' the post office building.
r than in the RR station and in the P#St office btilding? there
e no Public telephones in Elk. Retail stores had private business
t lephones. The telephones were not dial teleOlnes. All tele-
Phone lines were strung from poles. There we 114, underground
cable0.1
16. A telOgra,
/Motet
st&tion was also located in the post office and In the
Radii) fiAd T
17. The
television in the city of Elk; there was no radio
;tion. The nearest radio stationi was in the town of
Bialystok Some of the home radio receivers used were : Mazura,
6-tube polish wahc which retailed fpr about 1,380 zloty;
Pione a: 4-tube Polish make which retailed for about 950 zloty;
super, u40 Czech make which retailed at 1,800-2,500 zloty.
Many old rian receivers were in use. :amaing was not successful,
and broadcasts 0Duld be heard with a realonable amount of clarity.
Aradiovat ce was located in the post office building where
? le could'resister their sets afl&:nftY.the taxes thereon.
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18. Thirpost Qti.ce building oint1.2. moaa!red about 40 x 40 n.
r'
Ad Was t ateriea bigFi of brie? cenatruetion. The Post Office
Department was 10cated on the first rlcor 0f this building. 50X1
'19.
4 the
e ever.-ki
h0hr41.
250 hours oe
The current was 220 v.,
o e res r 0 4e use of power, because
lights would be -turned out for One or two
-n electric light 'bulb would last for about
A out.
ore ii,
:01.DiENTIAL
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Water Sun 17_
20,
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50X121.
There was a water tower which supplied the town's drinking water.
This was the only water tower in Elk and was about 70 m, high.
the supply of drinking water came from
the adloining lake. Water was piped n
all homes.
sometimes in t e.spring
people were told to boil their water before drinking.
The entire town
was not supplied with gas Ior cooking. The homes located on the
streets Armja Czerwona, Kosciuszki, Slowackiego, and Daszynskiego
used gas for cooking. Other areas in the town used coal or wood
stoves.
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Agriculture
22. In order of importance the crops sown in 1952 were potatoes,
sugar beets, rye, and cabbage. because of the unwill- 50:00
ingness of people to work on collective farms, there was a short-
age of farm help. Mostly old people accepted jobs on the collective
50:00 farms. there were about 15 people to work an area of
between 100-150 hectares, and that there was usually only one
tractor to work this area, so that much food was wasted. In the
winters of 1949, 19503 and 1951, unharvested crops lying in 50:00
50:00 the fields. /
50)023.
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50X124.
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a z ch LSzkoda tractor was used and a arlidog
assigned to a col ective arm.
ere W&Bon mact or mec
the number of privately owned liveo.tock, such as
poultry, hogs, cows and sheep had increased. At various times it
would be mentioned by farmers that instead of one cow or hog
they now had three\
Enclosure: Memory Sketch and Legend of Elk
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CONF1 EN 1.10,LAL
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CD
CR1
Rzeka Etk.
62..a Infantry Regt.
18 Div,
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AO aol* ???
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Legen4o.Melsory_altch of Elk
1. Teacher!, Aeade k (Lyceum Pedagogiczny); a four-story, brick
building, 30 x U* m.
2. Civilian Apartmeit house: two-story, of brick construction, 15 x
30m.
3. Department store: (Powszechny Dom Towarowy PDT): a three-story
brick building, about 20 x 50 m.
4. Civilian apartment houSe: 15 x 30 m., three stories high, of
brick construction.
5. Civilian apartment house and restaurant: 15 x 35 mw three stories
of brick construction.
6. Church: of brick construction, about 25 x 50 m.
7. Music school: two-story brick building, about 15 x 30 m.
8. Civilian Apartment house: bakery on the ground floor: three
stories high, 15 x 30 m., of brick codstruction.
9. State-owned retail store: (Miejski Handel Detaliczny MHD):
three-story brick building, about 15 x 30 m.
10. Civ titan apartment house: photographer's shop on the ground
floor; '15x 30 m., three stories high, of brick construction.
11. Post office
12. Office for the District Citizens Police: MI, a Obywatelska
about 15 x 40 m., two stories bigh, and of brit(' construction.
13. Apartment building: occupied by higher ranking officers of the
626 *Infantry Regiment; two-story brick building, about 15 x 20 m.
14. Civilian Apartment house: about ) x 30 m. and about three
stories fiigfi.
15. Commercial Academy: (Lyceum Handlowy); a three-story, brick build-
ing, about 40 x 40 m.
16. Water tower: about 70 m. high.
17. Hotel: the first floor is a restaurant, and on the second story
were rooms; 25 x 40 m., of brick construction.
18. Cemetery: about 300 x 800 m., it was on a hill.
19. Railroad bridle: standard gauge tracks.
20. lailroad bridal: with narrow gauge tracks.
21. Railroad station: A, B, C, and D are passenger platforms.
22. Iannel: leading from Mica Ogrodowa to opposite side of tracks;
a ranch of this tunnel led to the RR station.
23. Building: contained offices of the railroad; 30 x 40 m., two stor-
ies in height, of brick construction.
24. Kinder artm: 10 x 20 m., two stories in height, of brick con-
s rue on.
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WMFILIA01.-.1.*m
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25. 18th Division Army Headquarters: three story building, 15 x
of brick conitruction.
26. Apartment house: for army officers; 20 x 60 a., four stories high,
ofrIrick construction.
27. Regional Induction Commission; (Wojskowa Komenda Rejonewa
15-x t5 m., two stoiies hiiho of brick construotion.
50:00 28. District hos ital: 30 x 80 m., three stories hi :h, of brick con-
there were a ou
29. Home of the Commandin Officer of the 18th D vision: 15 x 25 m.,
vosor is goo rccons rue on. et) ins Officer's
name was Colonel LUBANSKI, a Russian.
30. Office of foresters: 15 x 30 rn., three stories high of brick
construction.
50:00 31. Prison: located on a small island.
olitical risen.
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this was a 50X1
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_groups o ye or s x en eyon e own to WO'
was a four-story building, of brick construction
:12. Bridge
33. Bridge
34, Bridge
35. Bridge
36. RR frellht station
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