extracts
In Tazab we were told to leave the train but this wasnÖt the end of our journey. For three days we sailed on goods barges along the river Amu-Darya. In the collective farm to which we came we worked in the fields picking cotton. The dry husks tore at our bare hands and the scratches turned septic but our main concern was still hunger. We were forever dreaming about eating and in this place it was difficult even to acquire drinking water. In the numerous little lakes the water was clear but salty. Mother was chronically sick and we'd never seen a doctor since we left the north. We stayed there for less than three weeks, when we were told to pack our bundles and go back. This time with the flow of the river against us our journey took five days. Crawling with lice people slept side by side on the deck. It was 26th November and it was very cold and raining. There was very little air under the tarpaulin we'd thrown over us. Those sick with dysentery and in a hurry to use a toilet often didn't make it and anyway there was a permanent queue in front of each of them. We drank water from the river over the banks of which toilets were suspended. We received no food. All through the night one was assailed by the moaning of the sick and the crying of children. This was the most ghastly part of our journey.
Waiting/not knowing
DIONIZA CHOROS (GRADZIK)
Osada Szczurzyn, District Luck