Memoirs by Kazimierz Młyńczak "Biography of Mine"

On 22 May 1941, we landed in Murmańsk and they took us 8 kilometres from Murmańsk to a valley, which we called the valley of tears. Behind barbed wire, in the open air, on top of frozen earth covered with snow, we split into groups and piled together into one heap, warming ourselves on one another. After a few days, we built two barrack shapes from bits of discarded wood and covered them with tarpaulin. Three-storeyed bunk-beds were arranged based on the calculation that everyone had one round rod on which they slept. If they managed to actually fall asleep, then they would fall onto the bunk below, between their neighbours. So-called white nights had the biggest impact on people, because it was almost as bright as on cloudy day. On 3 June 1941, they took us to Murmańsk, and accommodated us in barracks in the vicinity of the port – we could have been eaten alive by rats, there were so many of them.