A “Happy Generation, Born in a Free Poland” Children Deported from Eastern Poland to the Soviet Interior 1940–1941

After the Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland in 1939, the occupiers deported 320,000 Polish citizens to the Soviet interior. The families who were deported—especially the youngest among them—found it hard to adapt to life in the “special settlements” or kolkhozes in Northern Russia, Siberia, and Central Asia. Communicating with their loved ones was an important tool for survival, which is evident in the case of fourteen-year-old Kazimiera Mielewczyk, who was deported to Kazakhstan. She wrote over sixty letters to her friend Jolanta Michalowska, describing not only the everyday hardships she faced but also the beauty she was able to find in little things while in exile. In the present article, Mielewczyk’s letters, which show the unique and intimate perspective of a young woman in forced exile on a micro-level, will be examined in detail and contextualized within the wider body of research and source materials.