Exiled to Kazakhstan: A Survivor Miracle

Courtesy of the United States 
Holocaust Memorial Museum

When the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Poland at the beginning of WWII, the secret police (NKVD) immediately began arresting and deporting Polish citizens identified before the invasion. They simply pulled out their lists. . . .

These initial arrests focused on individuals holding leadership roles in the government, in the church, in education, in the military, as well as foreigners and those who had visited foreign countries. In February of 1940, hundreds of thousands of landowners and their families were sent to labor camps in Northern Russia and Siberia, and in April of 1940, family members of individuals previously arrested were transported to camps in Kazakhstan. Smaller numbers of Ukrainians and Jews were also deported.

Over one million people "rode the rails" to exile.              Read More . . .