Zenon Mikołajczyk – was born on 6 June 1933 in the village of Długa which is now in Łódź province. In the first days of April 1940, all the inhabitants were given thirty minutes to abandon their homes, leaving all their possessions for German settlers. The Mikołajczyk family, alongside other families, found themselves in the camps for expulsees in Konstantynów near Łódź. After four months they were taken to Pilczyń in the General Government. After the war when they returned to their property, their house was no longer there.

We had heard rumours of the possibility of deportations in our area but no‐one believed them. When the time came, it was a shock for everyone. At five in the morning, my father woke me up. ‘They are deporting us, we have only half an hour, get dressed’, and this began this day in April for everyone in our village of Długa. I was not yet seven.

I saw a German soldier in our home with a rifle ready to fire. Another armed soldier was in the yard making sure that no‐one escaped. My family was my father, mother, three sons, grandmother and my uncle who was my mother’s brother. He helped my father on the farm, in a way he was his servant. My uncle was detained in the village, he was going to have to work for the Germans who would come and take the farms belonging to the Poles. He worked very hard for them throughout the occupation without pay and little to eat.

When I left the house I saw that there was a crowd of people already on the road and families were joining it. Everyone was carrying something, clothing, food – whatever they could but it was in vain as the Germans forced us to walk 3km and things which were too heavy had to be left.

The atmosphere amongst the deportees was very bad. We did not know what would happen to us. The whole column was surrounded by armed German soldiers. Women prayed silently and cried. Everyone had left all their property, their homes, animals, machinery. My family owned a ten hectare property, fully equipped. There were two horses, four cows, around 15 pigs, fifty or so hens. We were forced to abandon everything.

In this atmosphere of sadness we were glad to see the German lady who had lived in our village for many years. She walked with us some way to show that she felt for us and gave some people cake. There were three German families in Długa before the war and they had good relations with everyone and this had not changed with the declaration of war in September 1939.

People had to walk between three and four kilometres, depending on where their homes were. Along the route the German soldiers treated us like slaves. We were terrified of them.

The first stage ended at Dzierzbice. There was a selection here. Some young people over 18 were taken for forced labour to Germany. All the others were put on two lorries covered with canvas with nowhere to sit. We were squeezed in as there was hardly enough room for everyone. The back of the canvas was tied up and the lorries left. We did not know where they were taking us to.

We were taken first of all to Kutno and then to a refugee camp in Łodź. There they took down our personal details and other bureaucratic paperwork. The Germans were still guarding us. It was now evening and no‐one had eaten or drunk anything but no‐one felt either hunger or thirst.

We were taken from Łódź to the camp at nearby Konstantynów around 22:00 at night. They searched our bags and our bodies. Men and women were inspected individually. My mother took my younger brother and I went with my father. They took the money, jewellery and other valuables from everyone. They could only keep their wedding rings. They even confiscated food. My father and I were treated less severely. My father took out his wallet and handed over his money. He had to take off his right shoe and jacket for inspection but there was nothing there. I stood by the wall a couple of steps from them holding a large kettle in my hand. Inside was hidden pieces of sausage which should have been taken from me. However the German did not bother with me when he let my father go. The sausage was saved.

In the camp in Konstantynów, we were all placed in a factory and each family had a piece of concrete floor. We slept on straw and covered ourselves with what we could, mainly our own clothing. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire and there were armed guards. I heard that there were attempts to escape and that the escapees were shot.

We received enough food so that we did not starve. There was unsweetened ersatz coffee, an uneatable soup but the bread to my young eye appeared to be more than sufficient. There was a lack of water in the camp and it was carried in barrels. Four men rolled them in. There was a constant queue of people who wanted to roll the barrels in as this allowed people to get out of the camp and find something for the children to eat. Our father was able to get out of the camp several times a day to help with the water.

After three or four months we were suddenly taken out of the camp and taken under guard by train to the station at Garwolin. Under German escort we were handed over to the Polish authorities. We were taken by horse and cart to Łaskarzewo and from there the mayor directed us to Pilczyń. We lived with a local farmer who had a free room with a small window. The first few nights we slept on the floor.

At the beginning the locals helped us get by, giving us bread and milk although they were terribly poor. My father tried various jobs to maintain the family and in the end he specialised in straw roofing. He used a method which was not known in this part of the world. In the winter he repaired boots with wooden soles. We waited for the day of liberation here, hoping that one day we would be able to return home.

After the war we returned to our home. I was eleven and I remember how we travelled using various forms of transport including open trains and horse drawn carriages. Our home was no longer there. The German family who took our farm, demolished unnecessary buildings. The animals had gone, they had taken them with them as they escaped. They did not even bother to sow crops in the autumn.

Without any help from anyone, my father began to rebuild his farm.