Can a happy childhood suddenly become one of the worst periods in life? The story of Krystyna Tomaszyk shows that unfortunately it is possible. Overnight, her ordinary childhood turned into a struggle for survival.

Krystyna Tomaszyk was born in 1932 in Vilnius as the daughter of judge Stanislaw Skwarko and his wife – also Krystyna. Two years later, her brother Stanislaw was born. Thus, the 1930s, spent in Sokółka near Białystok, passed in a family and peaceful atmosphere. At that time, nothing foreshadowed what awaited the family in the future. Unfortunately, that future came very soon.

After the Soviet aggression and the occupation of half of Poland by the Red Army in 1939, Stanisław Skwarko was arrested and imprisoned in a Białystok prison, and in 1941 was deported to the Vorkuta labour camps. In addition, the Soviets took their house away from them, so the mother and her two children had to move in with her family. However, this was not the end of their drama. In June 1941, Krystyna, together with her younger brother and their mother, was deported to the Tukai kolkhoz in Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia….
Krystyna Skwarko’s entire biography in Polish here: https://swiatsybiru.pl/pl/krystyna-tomaszyk-przez-sybir-na-antypody/