ON THE ROAD TO THE EXILE. SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS DURING A TRANSPORT TO THE SOVIET UNION (W drodze na zeslanie. Rozwazania na temat relacji miedzyludzkich w czasie transportu do Zwiazku Radzieckiego)

This article is an attempt of analysis of interpersonal relations established during the journey of Polish exiles to the Soviet Union. The analysis is based on twenty three narratives, published in periodicals entitled We, Sibiryaks, The Exile and in a book entitled Memoirs of Siberian Exiles. Mentioned narratives have been written many years after a return from the exile and are certainly incomplete, full of blanks and mistakes. It also has to be highlighted that all these memoirs come from different levels of memory. The narratives are built from autobiographical experiences as well as other people's tales and various sources associated with Polish exiles in Siberia such as literature, history and medial records. It is quite possible these memoirs were intentionally and consciously 'edited' to make narrative more interesting and attractive or to keep some information away from the reader (embarrassing or intimate issues). The author doesn't look at the collected materials through historical lenses, but from the point of view of Cultural Anthropologist. The analysis reveals that interpersonal relations during the transport to the USSR had various character. Such factors as: love, sympathy, solidarity, esteem, devotion and sense of mutual misfortune forced people to help and to support each other. On the other hand, bad living conditions in over-populated cattle carriages, the lack of personal, intimate space, constant and unwanted contact with others - made people feel traumatic and stressful.