Zonal State Archives in Molodechno

Description of holdings

Amount of holdings: 1 738 fonds, 284 753 items (including 149 fonds, 45 654 items of the Polish period; 1 589 fonds, 239 099 items of the Soviet and post-Soviet periods)

Chronological scope: from 1919 to the present (certain records from the First World War)

Geographical coverage:

  • Braslav, Vileika, Vilno-Troki, Volozhin, Disna, Dunilovichi, Molodechno, Oshmiany, Postavy and Sventsiany povets of the Vilno (Vilnius) voivodeship of Poland
  • abolished Ivenets, Ilia, Krivichi, Radoshkovichi and Svir districts
  • Vileika, Volozhin, Molodechno and Miadel districts of the Minsk region

Contents:

The period of 1919-1939 is represented by the records of various organizations operating in Western Belarus when it was a part of Poland. These include the Vilno Voivodeship Administration, the Vilno District Land Board, the povet starostvos, the povet state police commandant’s offices, municipal courts, district commissions for the election to the Seim and Senat, and more. Of the most interesting are the fonds of the Vilno Voivodeship Administration and the Vilno District Land Board. These contain data on the agrarian reform performed in the mentioned povets of the Vilno Voivodeship, the classification and assessment of lands, the structure of the landed property, the condition of the landed estates, the allotment of land to the military and civil osadniks, the parcelling of land, the allotment of peasants to separate farms (khutors), the sales of land plots and land property to peasants and other residents, the distribution of loans to peasants and osadniks, and more. There are lists of individuals who bought land plots, peasants who were sent to work at separate farms, peasants who owned little or no land, the owners of land plots, and more.

The fonds of the povet starostvos, povet land boards, povet state police groups, povet committees for land allotment, and district commissions for election to the Seim and Senat contain data concerning the state of agriculture, industry and education, the entry of foreign capital, tax policy, the condition of workers and peasants, the economic and political state in the povets, the closure of Belarusian schools, and the activities of political parties and social organizations in Poland– the Communist Party of Poland and Western Belarus, the Youth Communist League of Belarus, the Belarusian Peasants and Workers Party (Hramada), the Association of Belarusian Schools, and more. 

The fonds of the povet starostvos contain over 4 000 items of cartographic documents that include land plans and drafts for various boroughs, villages, zastenoks, state and private estates, and church grounds; land reclamation plans, the classification of estate and village lands, and the distric maps.

The period of 1939-1941 is represented by a complex of scanty records from 59 archival fonds which had not survived in totality. Of the most interesting are the documents of the Vileika Region Prosecutor’s Office–review proceedings of the criminal cases concerning parricide, espionage, acts of sabotage, subversive activities, counter-revolutionary activities, the illegal crossing of the state border, etc.  

The main bulk of records dating from the postwar period are those created by the local authorities–minutes of the council and executive committee sessions, records of the permanent branch commissions, local budgets and reports, plans and reports on economic development, and more.

The fonds of the state and people’s control agencies contain instructions and directives of the higher state control agencies; the schedules, reports and inspection certificates of the local control agencies, and more.

Records of penal agencies, courts, prosecutor’s, advocacy and notary’s offices contain minutes of working and interdepartmental meetings, work summaries, criminal and civil case files, criminal case reviews, sentencing and other court decisions, and more. 

Records of the local trade unions include minutes of trade union conferences, minutes of plenary sessions and meetings of the regional, municipal and district committee presidiums, work schedules, and more.

Records of the press and radio agencies include work schedules, reports, radio program texts, and more.

A large group of records are the fonds of economic enterprises and institutions. These include the fonds of the branch divisions of the local council executive committees, industrial enterprises, collective and state farms, forestries, municipal and district data-processing stations, technical, vocational and secondary schools, and more.

Records of the indicated fonds of the Soviet period contain data on the nationalization and confiscation of private enterprises and buildings owned by the better-off part of Western Belarus population after the unification with the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR); the election to the higher and local government and people’s courts; the observance of socialist law and public safety; the development of various sectors of national economy; collectivization of agriculture in Western Belarus; the damage attributable to the Nazi Occupation; crime control and prevention; the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion and the provision of assistance to the affected population.

Records of the plenipotentiaries of the councils for religious affairs and the Russian Orthodox Church contain data on the number and condition of the Orthodox and Catholic churches and other church buildings, the number of registered religious communities and their characteristics, the social status of the believers, the state control over religious worship, and more.

Records of the Republic of Belarus (from 1991 to the present) illustrate the holding of the 1991 Referendum on the preservation of the Soviet Union; the Republic-level Referendum of 1995; the structural rebuilding of economics and the introduction of market relations; the resource saving at the local level; the organization and liquidation of small private enterprises; housing privatization; the reorganization of secondary schools and other educational institutions into colleges and gymnasiums, their work, and more.

Records of the local tax inspections contain data on the organization of economic and control work; tax returns and debts; registration of residents with incomes from private business; computation of land tax and real property tax.

The collection of papers related to the participants of World War II and servicemen who stayed in Afghanistan contain copies of records of the Molodechno Regional Commission for Assistance to the Extraordinary State Commission on Nazi Crime and Damage in the Molodechno Region; testimonies of former prisoners of war, reminiscences of former young prisoners, data concerning the work of the Vileika and Molodechno district commissions for the affairs of the former Partisans and Resistance members; lists of settlements destroyed in the war; lists of war veterans who lived in the Vileika, Volozhin, Molodechno and Miadel districts of the Minsk region; lists of servicemen, partisans and civilians who lost their lives in the war; invalids; families of the dead soldiers and partisans; servicemen who served in Afghanistan, and more.

In addition, the Archives holds personal fonds of various state functionaries, public figures, scientists and scholars. The main complex of documents relating to F. I. Svito, candidate of medical sciences, includes research papers, manuscripts of speeches, reports and articles, schedules and descriptions of conducting tests, innovative proposals, etc. that illustrate the technological development of the injection dosage form of urea and the organization of its mass production for the needs of public healthcare, including  brain surgery.
The personal fonds of the neurosurgeon, candidate of medical sciences  E. I. Svito includes research papers, brochures and teaching aids related to the research and methods of treatment of epilepsy.
The brochures, articles and sketches by G. A. Kokhanovski, candidate of historical sciences, member of the BSSR Writers Union, contain data related to local lore, literary criticism and folklore in Belarus.
The personal fonds of P. I. Bitel, translator, member of the USSR Writers Union includes translations (from the Latin, Polish and Russian into Belarusian) of the works by Lucius Apuleius, poets Adam Mitskevich (Mickiewicz), Jozef Kraszewski and Aleksandr Tvardovski.
Manuscripts of essays, speeches, articles and reports related to school work comprise the fonds of the honorary teacher of the BSSR S. T. Demeshko.
The personal fonds of M. Kozlovski, chief editor of Kuferak Vilenshchyny magazine contains manuscripts of  essays, articles, reviews, speeches and other documents relating to his service and creative activity.
The personal fonds of the poetess A. A. Novik and the front-line poet V. I. Nosov hold manuscripts of novels, poems, verse, essays, humoresques and other works.
The personal fonds of WWII veterans I. S. Stepanov, member of Journalists’ Union, and P. M. Danilochkin contain manuscripts of books, feature stories and reminiscences about soldier friends and feats of arms during the war, the political and educational work among the young people, the cultural and educational work among the local population, and more.