I was a child when we were deported to Siberia, however I can the reader on how we travelled to Tehran.

My family and a few neighbors from Poland collected our belongings and set off
for the railroad station. Catching a train heading to the southern part of the USSR.
We traded whatever was left from our meagre baggage for food. Twice we had to
leave the train and wait for another. We slept in the railroad station because we feared that we will miss a train

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I was getting sick. I was suffering from severe malnutrition and had a high temperature. For three of us it was it was imperative that we get to Krasnoworsk. Father was to go to the Polish Army, and mother and I to India.

Mother and I were to leave by ship to Pahlavi. We were only permitted to take
what we could carry on our back. I was very week, yet the Russians ordered me to carry my baggage. No sick was allowed on board, as it would reflect poorly on the Soviet Paradise. People were left behind, because they were too sick to travel.

We crossed Caspian Sea, and arrived in Pahlavi, greeted by Polish voices. We disembarked on the beach. We walked a little towards the tents, when mother’s
friend, who was sick and was pregnant sat down and went into labor. Mother found a sheet and put it under her. She, who never saw a human delivery, delivered a stillborn. She went to Medical Officer, and informed him that there was a woman on the beach who needs medical attention.

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We were assigned tents that were very hot inside. People had intestinal problems, often bleeding. The toilet was a dug trench with boards on both sides .I feared that I may fall in, so mother had to come with me.

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The Brits had cooks, and we were given army fare. Cauldrons of mutton with a few
meagre onions, and beans.

Soon we were travelling again, in lorries, with several tipsy Iranian drivers. The mountainous road was narrow and winding. The drivers rode too fast. Finally
when we stopped for a rest, a Polish man convinced the driver that he is too tired to drive any further, and that he was an experienced driver from the army. There was a palpable relief in the back. I promptly fell asleep and awoke in Tehran.

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It was hot and dusty. The long barracks were full of bedbugs that had a feast with
new arrivals. I was sick in Tehran for almost a year. In and out of different hospitals. I finally ended up in an American hospital. The base was closing, but the hospital was still open. I had Avitaminosis. caused by starvation.

Our fare in Russia had been "zacierka" - flour made into dough, and then torn into
small bits and boiled.

We were given small allowance, but women organized a sawing group, and knitters had their own. Some worked in the kitchen.

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Tehran was lovely for me. My father managed to get a furlough for a few days and
visited us. We went for ice cream, and to this day I almost can taste it. It was so good. Father was stationed in Iraq, but soon moved to Palestine. He was in Polish 2nd Corps. Eventually he was in Italian Campaign, including the Battle for Monte Cassino.

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We travelled by ship to Karachi, where the Poles had set up a camp for those who had managed to escape Siberia. We were then sent to Valivade, a Polish camp near Kohlapur.

 

 

Copyright: Joanna Szablicka (joannarabkin@att.net)

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