Documentation of Executive Committee of Pinsk City Council regarding nationalization of Jewish property, 1939-1941

Documentation of Executive Committee of Pinsk City Council regarding nationalization of Jewish property, 1939-1941
 
 On 17 September 1939 in the evening, the first tanks of the Soviet striker force raced into the Pinsk city limits (following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Agreement). Their arrival brought feelings of joy, but some doubts among the observant Jews, activists in various parties, within the Zionist youth movements and among the landowners and business people. The Communists who had been underground left the city to receive the striker force.
 
 In the documentation which has reached Yad Vashem, there are documents regarding the nationalization of property. According to the regulations and guidelines established by the Soviet Narodnikh Komisarov (SNK-the Council of People's Commisars) in Belorussia between 10 May 1940 and 15 January 1941, it was determined, for example, that buildings whose area is smaller than 113 square meters, two-family houses belonging to two different owners and houses, 60% of whose area is in disrepair, are not to be nationalized. Property belonging to former clerks in Poland, reactionary groups, estate owners, theaters, museums, libraries and monuments (set up within structures), and of course, buildings whose area is over 113 square meters are to be nationalized.
 
 Differentiation should be made between municipal nationalization and national nationalization. In the case of municipal nationalization, the owners of the confiscated property, most of which consists of residential housing, are obligated to add additional residents to their houses, and to pay rent. In the case of national nationalization, the owners must distance themselves 100 kilometers from the city (and in most cases, they were deported afterwards to deep within the Soviet Union).
 
 Most of the documentation in this collection deals with municipal nationalization, including a list of home owners whose property was nationalized by the Ispolkom (Ispolnitelny Komitet-the Implementation Committee) with many names of Jews. The type of property which was nationalized shows that there was a fairly wide level of well-to-do Jews who lived in large homes, built of stone (stone construction was regarded as luxury building) in the center of the city. Many Jews appealed to the authorities and requested cancellation of the decision to nationalize their property. Most of the appeals were rejected, but there were several instances when the claim being made was seen as just and the nationalization was cancelled. There were even applicants who turned to the Municipal Prosecutor who succeeded in solving the disputes among the various authorities.
 
 In the collection there is documentation regarding the nationalization of Jewish houses in Pinsk and requests to revoke the nationalization, lists of home owners, 1939-1941.