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The Soviet army was being pushed back very quickly by German forces and Stalin was desperate to obtain help from anywhere. The Soviet and Polish governments realised the situation had changed and were encouraged by the British to work together. 

The result was the Sikorski - Mayski pact, which was signed on 30 July 1941. Once the amnesty had been granted, the  news filtered to the various gulags and work camps where the Poles had been scattered. Wherever they were, as soon as the news of the amnesty reached them, the Poles moved south 'like a swollen river, blindly rushing ahead,' desperately seeking recruitment into, or at the very least, the protection of the Polish army.

Jan Miłoszewski and his brother in law, Renek Łuksza, left to join the Polish army, which was in the process of being formed in the Kermine area in Uzbekistan. Jan joined the Polish 2nd Corps.

Grandfather Łuksza died in the 'kolkhoz,' whilst the rest of the Miłoszewski family were transferred to Guzary in Uzbekistan. The conditions in Guzary were horrific and the family endured very primitive living conditions in winter temperatures. Here Jan’s youngest daughter Celina, lovingly known as Kocia, died. 
Teresa fell ill and was taken to a very primitive hospital, where hundreds of very young children were dying from typhoid, dysentery and other diseases, the result of starvation and poor sanitary conditions prevalent in the USSR.

THE HISTORY OF THE
MIŁOSZEWSKI AND RAFALĄT FAMILIES​

​7. Amnesty July 1941​

The key points of the pact, which would impact the future of our families, were:

•  the Soviet-German treaty (Ribbentrop-Molotov pact), which resulted in border changes, had lost its validity
• a Polish army was to be formed on Soviet soil from Polish citizens deported from the eastern parts of Poland by the Soviets
• an amnesty was granted to all Polish citizens on Soviet soil 

General Władysław Anders was appointed as the commander of the Polish army in the Soviet Union. Anders' unique background and understanding of the Russian mentality made him an ideal choice. He hated the Soviets with a vengeance, but he was very skilful and had the trust of both the Russians and the Poles.

News that a Polish army was to be created in the southern part of the USSR reached the settlement.  Jan was in no doubt that he had to move his family south and take the chance that with the Polish army their situation would improve. Jan obtained the necessary documents from the Soviet authorities and made preparations for the coming journey to the southern parts of the USSR, which he knew would be very difficult. Departure from Semeryczne took place on 4th October 1941, just as winter was coming.

The route of the journey was as follows:

The Poles' journeys were incredibly difficult. The Soviet railway system was struggling to supply the  hard-pressed armies with soldiers and supplies in an east-west direction. 

Meanwhile, the Polish exodus was flooding the system in a north-south direction. The USSR was short of everything. Food and sanitary supplies were in desperately short supply. This resulted in thousands of dead bodies, many of the old and children, littering railway tracks and railway stations. 

Whilst the army was being formed, Stalin wanted these poor half-starved men, who had only recently been freed from the hell of Siberian work camps, to be sent to fight the Germans with very little training and inadequate supplies. However, Anders was resourceful in ensuring that the men would not be sent to war unprepared and that they and their families would be cared for by the army. He was able to gradually convince the Soviets that the Polish army would better serve the war effort if they were to be supplied and looked after by the British. Whilst Stalin was very suspicious and reluctant to release control of the Polish army, the war was being lost and the Germans were very close to the Caucasus, where they could easily push towards the Iraqi oil fields. Anders convinced the Soviets to send the Polish army, under the command of the British and Americans, to defend the Iraqi oil fields and other Allied objectives. The Polish army supplies came along the Iranian and Archangielsk routes.

The first evacuations of the army and their dependents to Pahlevi (present day Bandar Anzuli) in Iran took place by ship from Krasnovodsk across the Caspian Sea. Between March and April 1942 approximately 31,000 soldiers and 12,500 dependants were evacuated. The evacuations were suspended as relations between the Russians and Poles worsened. Finally, with the continuously advancing German Front, the evacuations were allowed to continue. Between 1st-31st August 1942 a further 41,500 soldiers and 30,000 civilians were evacuated. Then the evacuations stopped.

After arrival in Iran the grateful, starving, sick and exhausted soldiers and civilians recognised that they had finally been rescued from their 'Soviet Hell.'

The British were shocked at the condition of the Poles and a massive operation was launched to clean, disinfect, clothe and house the thousands of survivors.

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Jan, when he heard about Teresa's plight, travelled to Guzary to take Teresa away with him. On arrival at the hospital he saw the desperate condition of the young patients and took away 12 children, in addition to Teresa, with him to his army camp in Kermine. His action no doubt saved the lives of these children. But it was a gruelling journey through Uzbekistan to return safely to the army camp. It is difficult to imagine the horrific conditions in which all these poor families were living at this point in time in their history.