Wartime trauma is revealed

In 1940 Mike Remiarz and his family were ethnically cleansed from their homeland, along with over three million other Poles, and transported to the living hell of Siberia.

Mike, who is 81, now lives in Shropshire. And his extraordinary story is the latest to have been uncovered by historian Phil Fairclough, who has been researching a book about the thousands of displaced people and prisoners who ended up in Shropshire after the war.

Mike's father Antony had joined the Polish Legionnaires, an underground army which fought to win back Polish independence, which was achieved in 1918.

His reward was about 30 hectares of land in Burdykowzczynzna - Burdy for short - in what had previously been occupied territory.

"On September 17, 1939, the Russians invaded and took half of Poland. The Russians told us they had come to protect us from possible German aggression. Nobody believed them," said Mike, who was born in Burdy in December 1926.

"Two Russian soldiers came to our farm and took our best horse, leaving one that was a half-dead skeleton. In February 1940, more soldiers arrived with horse-drawn sledges.

"They told us to get ready to leave the farm. They said we were rich landowners and class enemies and would be punished for our anti-proletarian attitudes. We had about half an hour to grab anything we may need.

"We were all full of fear. We left the farm and all our animals, never to return. Over three million Poles, the entire cultural, political and intellectual elite, were transported to the living hell of Siberia."

They then endured a terrible journey packed into cattle trucks, and at the end of the railway line it continued on long, flat sledges pulled over the snow by horses.

They were given no food and had to scrounge from local villagers.

"The Russians seemed to think it did not really matter if we died as there were plenty more Poles to replace us."

Their first labour camp was at Kuballa, near Archangel on the coast of the frozen White Sea, 200 miles from the nearest rail station, where they were pressed to work cutting down huge trees.

"For us all, the work was very hard, the food poor and the climate harsh. My six-year-old brother Zbyszek died of starvation and lack of medical attention in Kuballa camp.

"There were about 80 Polish families in the camp - about 400 people. It was so cold even the sap in the trees froze, cracking open the wood.

"It is very hard for me to talk about this part of my life. It is painful just to remember what it was like, even now after more than 60 years. The fear, sadness, the hunger, the desperation and lack of hope cannot really be expressed in writing.

"Only those who have been through it themselves can know what it was like."

They moved to a new camp at Kwazniskabasa in Ustianski district, a bleak and empty place, with a camp commandant from the KGB. Workers got a small wage with which they could buy food.

"The only gleam of help came from the parcels we were allowed to receive from our relatives - my uncle and my mother's three sisters - in Poland. They sent fat bacon and soap and other things which really saved us.

"We were all depressed about our imprisonment and I felt we were destined to die there."

But early in 1942 came a glint of hope. By now Russia and Germany were at war, and the Russians gave permission to the Polish leader, General Anders, to create a Polish Army to fight the Germans.

"All of a sudden a lot of other prisoners in the camps discovered they were really Polish and joined in the great escape."

They arrived in Khazakstan, and conditions improved. The men went for military training and Mike and other boys went into an apprentice group.

Escape from Russia came by ship across the Caspian Sea to Persia - Iran - and into the hands of the British.

"My father and oldest brother came later on the very last transport out of Russia. Stalin then cancelled the agreement to let the rest of the Poles go and thousands were stranded in Russia. However, my family had finally escaped from Russia and we all felt a great sense of freedom and safety."

Mike's father and brother went on to fight with the Polish Army in Italy while Mike, winning his place against intense competition, went to an RAF Apprentices School for Polish boys in England, training as a ground radar and wireless technician. His training ended in 1947.

In the post-war world, Poland was left occupied by the Russians.

"All my family were heartbroken that we could not return. We felt betrayed. My father and two brothers fought in Italy at the dreadful battles around Monte Cassino. We did it gladly for a free Poland and now the western leaders had sold us out to Stalin."

After leaving the RAF Mike got a similar civilian job at Donnington in Shropshire, met his future wife - who had also been transported to Siberia - married, and settled in Wellington.

Mike says: "I am very grateful that the English rescued us from the Russian labour camps. I think my family has made a significant contribution to this country to repay that debt of honour. My wife and I became UK citizens in 1960."

Mike Remiarz's remarkable journey to eventual freedom. From Poland he was transported to the wastelands of northern Russia to do forced labour before escaping through Persia.