świątek was arrested by the kgb on december 18, 1944. he minsk until july 21, 1945. świątek was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in the gulag concentration camps. he spent two years in mariinsk, siberia, and seven years north of the polar circle in vorkuta and inta. he release on june 16, 1954. świątek returned to pinsk and his pastoral work in the cathedral parish.