They were sent to Siberian labor camps with long-term sentences. They had to learn the art of surviving in conditions of deadly frost and working beyond human strength. After their return, they wrote down their memories. How did they remember "The Cursed Island"?
Kolyma. Poles in Soviet labor camps.
Kolyma - Soviet labor camps, subject to the NKVD, established in the early 1930s after the discovery of rich natural resources in unpopulated areas:coal, platinum, uranium, and crude oil, and even gold.
In February 1931, the first prisoners arrived in the areas of the future labor camps. In the early years of the camps operation, the death rate among the labor camps was around 80%. The Kolyma camps were terrifying because of the harsh climate and bad living conditions - prisoners were sent there that were "particularly dangerous" to the Soviet authorities. Work was stopped only at -54 ° C.
You can find shocking accounts of Poles who found Kolyma in the book “Kołyma. Poles in Soviet labor camps ” (Fronda Publishing House 2019).
The book contains mostly unpublished accounts of those who survived the white hell of Soviet labor camps in the far north. We were moved to write the text from old typescripts and handwritten certificates. We also publish reproductions of letters, souvenirs and documents that have remained in the archives cultivating the memory of the Polish labor tragedy .
Those who survived talk about camp life in Kolyma, about the dramatic events they witnessed and victims of. The tragedy left a bloody mark on their lives - forever.
The "enemies of the system" were sent to Kolyma. Young people in particular received long-term sentences. One could come across Kolyma for suspicion of cooperation with the Home Army and for any patriotic activity assessed by the Soviet authorities as subversive.
We invite you to read.
