POLISH PRISONER S ACCOUNT OF SOVIET CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01035R000100010016-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2001
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: July 23, 1947
• Content Type: IR

Approved For Release 200166iNnaltrapP81-01035R000100010016-4
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE GROUP
INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Pi .1N'TRY Poland/USSR
ellINECT Polish Prieonerts Aecouat of Soviet
Concentration Camps.
(AMIN
?1411.1.1?M?1110111.400
DATE
INFO.
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DIST. 23 July 1947
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TIMPARaillfeeeteltiMe..erts.
1. Prisoners were transported in unventilated cattle cars with no protection
from the 40? winter Weather. There was an average of 50 people in each
15-ton oar. Daily rations consiste of 220 gr, of biscuit, 50 gr. of salted
bacon, and one teaspoon of sugar. water vas furnished; when prisoners
called for it guards would come into the cars, beat and kick the peop: , and
incite their dogs to take away What food they had. Told the cars contained
Germans, the population cursed the rTisoners and threw stones. In each car
there were informers who conducted investigations during the one-month
journey.
The gam
2. Upon arrival at a destinatior prisoners always had to walk a few miles to
the camp, often through deep snow, surrounded by guards and dogs. Camps
usually consisted of badly and hurriedly built barracks infested with bedbugs.
Straw was used in lieu of blankets. Often there was no water in the camp.
In these eases it would have to be brought in on sleighs pulled by six to
eight men for a distance of two kilometers. Wadhing was out of the (emotion.
3. Camps near the mines were well off for fuel as everyone would bring e piece
of coal from work. In otter camps fuel had to be brought in sleighs pealed
by men. onset service in huge vats was done as a penalty for bad work Or
lack of discipline. In one of the camps (Number 9/283) the *0 mrsanding officers
a Captain Florynski, sr3ated a special brigade of former AK L Armja Trejowa,
or Home Army officer/ for this filthy tack.
14,48fe-C9AUPAR
4. Twice a day, in the morning and evening, prisoners received three-quarters of
a liter of soup from rotten cabbage leaves and other such vegetables, three to
four spoonfuls of kaiha, and 600 grams (one kilogram if working in the mines)
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of bread. Once a month they get a half kilogram of sugar. Most of the
fat, flour, meat, and canned stuffs received at the camp was eaten by the
camp administrators; very little reached the prisoners. In the spring,
vden no cabbage was lett, they boiled thistles and nettles. TO avoid
complete emaciation the inmates sad Whatever vas left of their belongings,
stole at their working posts, and made all sorts of things to sells In that
way they helped each other to survive. There were some doctors (also Poles)
but facilities were so inadequate and medicines so scarce that sickness was
a habit. Tuberculosis, diarrhea, pneumonia, and sciatica were particularly
prevalent.
5. Daily working hours ranged from eight hours in the mines to ten hours in
the buildings. Pay varied from 100 to 300 rubles a month. , Some of the mine
workers received premiums to encourage greater output--e.g., one kilogram of
bread (20 - 30 rubles), one kilogram of potatoes (6 ? 16 rubles), one liter
of milk (12 - 25 rubles), one egg (7 - 10 rubles), one kilogram of bacon
(250-450 rubles). These prices varied with the seasons and the appearance
of items On the free market.
reepreGermimasaarn_yreendr
6. When the fighting stopped prisoners expected to be released, but not until
Sep 45 did any return to Poland. Those remaining were mostly social and
political workers, AK officers, or German spies.
7. On 27 Dec 45 a second transport left from Stalinogersk... Food became scarcer
and fat or meat non-existent. In the spring of 46 the authorities received
orders to favor the Germans, who were given the status of guards. Though
unarmed, they could be distinguirhed by White bands on their sleeves'. This
scandalized the local population who from then on became friendlier toward
the prisoners. The administration of the camp was. also turned over to the
Germans. The authorities explained that this was because they planned to
send all the Poles home, keeping only the Germans. In Jun 46 about 150,
mostly AK officers, were selected and sent east, probably to Kazan ? under very
strong escort.
Return to P9L
8. On 15 Jun another transport of about 2,000 people, mostly Poles Who had served
in the German Army or Germans who knew Polish, was put together. This group
went to Stalinogorsk and then to Breese where a Poliah Government delegate
took over. From Breese they uera taken to a camp in Milecin near Wloclawek
for screening. All except 350 collaborators were sent home. But mazy Poles
still remained in Soviet camps.
Tattle fr_agmaggeaskat_o
9. Destruction between the Uetawaja station and Baranovicze is widespread. Stations,
bridges and cities are completely destroyed and only a few villages have survived.
The fields are mostly unplowed and grass is high on What were battlefields.
Between these one does see strips of land with very poor crops on them. Along
the track there are whole German factories on railroad cars. On the side of
the tracks uncovered machinery is dumped sloppily to rot sway. Some things,
naturally, are being carried away 47 the local population.
10. At the Katyn station prisoners tried to get the "kolehozniki" who had opert the ,
whole uar there to talk about Polish officers murdeaea in Kozia GoraL Kozia Glowy
They mould look around fearfully to see if anyone was watching or listening and
then without A vord would leave. The place is now guarded by the Soviet Army
and no one can go there.
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11. At Krasnaja prisoners saw a ran in a Polish major's uniform walking up and
down with an old bearded kolchoznik. When they spoke to the officer in
Polish he did not understand.
12. From Smolensk onward crowds of women would board the train, hanging on the
buffers and sitting on the roof. They would go as far as Brzeso to get
bread and potatoes which they would take back home. The difference on the
Polish side of the frontier was noticeable. There the fields were tilled,
the houses clean, and at the stations women came and sold bread, butter,
sausages, milk, and cheese.
Oaer jox_Epagiet C
13. In many camps in the Stalinogorsk region there are still about 1,500 Poles,
mixed with Germans. In Mar 46, 5,500 Poles, including 4AK generals and
700 AK officers, were still in a large eapp at Kazan. Most of them probably
are still there.
DispositimegelteekeneellepelgIlen
14. After the war ended there was great disillusionment. This was especially
true among the Soviet soldiers who had been treated unjustly. Repatriated
from the west, they were placed in workers' batallions where the discipline
was very stiff. Their food was no better than that of the Polish prisoners'
but their working norms were higher. Intelligent elements and ?Mears often
also worked in the camps. When they were taken from Germany they were told
tall tales about the future. Thus they are now filled with hatred, for the
authorities. They sow discontent and a whispering campaign against the regime
Is going on. They work lazily and sloppily, and often there is sabotage, with
destruction of tools and 'materiel and stealing. Politically they are a very
conscious element. Anti-Semitism is strong among them.
15. During the summer and autumn of 45 robber bands started roaming the country.
In the Stalinogorsk region a few higher officers of the NKGB were murdered.
Rumors among the local population are eagerly hunted and received. They see
their only salvation in a mar between the USSR on one side and the US and
Great Britain on the other. All are convinced that nowhere else in the world
is life as bad as in the USSR. The reputation of the US is immense. During
the war the population saw many US goods whose quality was far superior to
Russian. The Soviet masses are drawn to the picture of the US, with the free-
dom and wealth of its citizens. It is hard to conceive that the USSR could
pall its masses against the US as they were able to stir them against the
Germans.
16. Those who were in Poland speak well of the Poles. In 1946 Soviet efforts to
create hatred of Britain could be seen. This campaign was intensified in the
press and radio after Churchill's Fulton, Missouri speech. During this time
t!-7e masses lived in the conviction that war was immiaent. They prayed for it.
When a ramie appeared on the horizon, they looked eagerly to see if it was a
foreign one. The people saw that ghat the USSR had been telling them for years
was all lies.
17. Poverty, terror, and injustice are on the increase. The 1945 crops remained in
the fields not ;ay because of the manpower shortage but because of the hatred
of the nolchoznikin who receive so little grain for their hard work te r!e7
have to steal from the State allotments in order to live. Primitive methods
produce very small crops even from the very rich lands. There is a severe shortage
of livestock. particularly horses and cattle. In 1946 prices continued to climb;
the only 4p was in clothing and shoes which were brought back by returning
o had to sell them for food.
-end-
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