Map: Krysia's Journey (1940-1942) -- A Polish Pronunciation and Vocabulary Guide -- Author's Note -- Prologue -- Part One: The End of Life As We Knew It -- Hints of Impending War -- The Last Autumn of Peace -- Strangers in the Sky -- Life Under Russian Occupation -- Shadows in the Night -- Part Two: Journey into Captivity -- Traveling by Cattle Car -- Traveling by Ox Cart -- Part Three: Life in Captivity -- Settling In -- Strange Happenings at Night -- Enduring the Winter -- Spring and Summer Surprises -- Part Four: Flight to Freedom -- Reunion and Departure -- A Seemingly Endless Wait -- The Trans-Siberian Train Journey -- Tragedy Strikes Home -- Setting Sail for Freedom -- Afterword -- Epilogue -- A Guide to Geographical Names.
Summary:
"Few people are aware that in the aftermath of German and Soviet invasions and division of Poland, more than 1.5 million people were deported from their homes in Eastern Poland to remote parts of Russia. Half of them died in labor camps and prisons or simply vanished. Some were drafted into the Russian army, and a small number returned to Poland after the war. Those who made it out of Russia alive were lucky--and nine-year-old Krystyna Mihulka was among them. In this childhood memoir, Mihulka tells of her family's deportation, under cover of darkness and at gunpoint. And their life as prisoners on a Soviet communal farm in Kazakhstan, where they endured starvation, illness, and witnessed death for more than two years. This untold history is revealed through the eyes of a young girl struggling to survive and to understand the increasingly harsh world in which she finds herself."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.