From Feliks Chustecki (telephone interview)
Tom Holloway (xuegx@CSV.WARWICK.AC.UK)
Mon, 5 May 1997 12:06:42 +0100
Hello to Kristi Maloy and Lauren Williams from Feliks Chustecki.
At 09:19 01/05/97 PDT, you wrote:
>Why were you taken to the camp?
I was deported because my father fought the Russians in 1920 and
Russia invaded the eastern part of my country at the same time
that Germany invaded the western part. You will learn more if
you find out about the 'Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact' of 1939.
>Was the food that they provided spoiled?
During the month in the cattle truck it was very poor quality and
sometimes non-existent - just water. Sometimes a soldier might
give us a few fish or potatoes and we could make a soup.
In the labour camp the bread was half-baked and we had just bare
essentials like Khasha (porridge). But of course the soldiers
often had to eat the same food so it wasn't intentionally spoilt.
>Why were you allowed to leave the camp?
There were several categories of prisoner. Our main job was to
work in the forest.
>Why were you allowed to form a Polish Army in Russia?
The Polish Army was formed in Persia - not in Russia. It was allowed
because Germany attacked Russia and there was an agreement made in
London and suddenly we were on the same side so Russia let us leave
to travel to Persia (now Iran).
>What were your contacts with the Germans, if any?
None. I started my training in Palestine to join the
Polish Air Force in Egypt. When I got to my unit in
England to continue my flying training the war ended.
>Do you believe your experiences in the camp resembled those of the Jews at
>Aushwitz and other camps?
No - not at all. We were required to work and our camp was just
a slave labour camp - not like Aushwitz or any of the death camps.
Feliks Chustecki
May 1997.