M.41.GABr - Documentation from the State Archive of the Brest Region

M.41.GABr - Documentation from the State Archive of the Brest Region
 
 History of the State Archive of the Brest Region:
 
 The State Archive of the Brest Region was created on 11 February 1940 as part of the system of the People's Commissariat for Interior Matters. The Archive stores the documentation of the Polish state institutions and organizations that were active in the Polesie region during 1919-1939 (and which were annulled by the Soviets during the same period), including also the documentation of the military authorities, the social and political organizations and associations, and state and private companies. The Soviet authorities did not succeed in evacuating the Archive in June 1941, and many of the documents were damaged or removed to outside the country, along with the reference books and catalogues. During the second half of the 1940s, documentation of the German authorities and local authorities that were active during the war, arrived to the Archive. From 1954 and until the 1960s, material arrived to the Archive from the period of the Polish rule in western Belorussia and materials from the Nazi period from the regional Archives in Baranovichi and Pinsk that had been annulled. From the 1950s and following, materials started to arrive to the Archive from Soviet institutions, associations and organizations. In 1992, materials arrived to the Archive from the Regional Archive of the Communist Party, which had been closed.
 
 The State Archive of the Brest Region includes documentation of the ChGK, the municipal administration, and the regional administration in Brest from 1941-1944. The collection includes documentation of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission, the municipal administration, and the regional administration in Brest, the finance department of the regional administration, and documentation of house committees.
 
 The collection includes, among other documentation, personal forms of the Jews of Brest which were filled out in order to receive identity cards. By means of this unique documentation, it is possible to learn details regarding the community in the Brest Ghetto and about its strata. The documentation includes many documents regarding the paying of taxes by the Jewish skilled professionals, and lists of Jews who were workers in the healthcare system.
 
 Before the war, there were 22,000 Jews in Brest, who constituted over 40% of the Brest population. During autumn 1939, 10,000 refugees arrived from Poland, most of them Jews. The Soviet authorities evacuated them to various areas in eastern Belorussia. Some of the refugees were dispersed to other places in the region, and some remained in Brest.
 
 The German Army forces occupied Brest on 22 June 1941. Several days after the occupation of the city of Brest, an order was published that obligated the Jews to report to the Employment Office.
 
 The city of Brest was divided into to two areas: an Aryan area and a Jewish area. Jews were ordered to wear a red and white badge, to walk only on the sides of the road, and to accept the work referrals. Non-Jewish residents were forbidden to shake hands with Jews or to converse with Jews.
 
 In July 1941, the Jews were accused of an attack on German soldiers. This charge was used to supposedly justify a "revenge" action which, in actuality, was the first murder of the Jews of Brest. Starting in August 1941, the Jews were restricted in the ownership of property, and Jews were forbidden to sell, lease or exchange property. The first orders issued by the commander of the city of Brest relate to the prohibitions that were imposed on the Jews and to the restrictions placed on the salaries of Jewish workers.
 
 On 08 August 1941, the German authorities imposed "Contributions" (the payment of forced contributions, "taxes") on the Jewish population. In addition, the Jews were forced to pay fines for various crimes, such as being on the street without a badge or for entering Aryan shops. As of early November 1941, the Judenrat was responsible for the distribution of food cards and bread among the Jews. All of the bakeries were divided into Aryan or Jewish bakeries. The Jewish bakeries were transferred to the authority of the Judenrat.
 
 The Brest Ghetto was established in December 1941, under the command of the SS-und Polizei Standortführer (SS and Police base commander), Friedrich Rohde. The Judenrat, headed by Hirsch Rosenberg, was responsible for maintaining order inside the ghetto.
 
 During November-December 1941, all of the Jews were registered in order to receive identity cards. The Yad Vashem Archives has in its possession the personal forms of the Jews of Brest that were filled out in order to receive identity cards; these forms include the Jews' birth date, place of birth and profession. Photographs of the Jews and their fingerprints are also included with the forms. The lists are arranged in alphabetical order, according to the Russian alphabet. This documentation is unique in that it presents the diversity of the residents of the Brest Ghetto. During the period from August to September 1941, Jews were permitted to receive a business permit in order to open workshops [in the skilled professions]. Despite this, following the establishment of the Brest Ghetto, many workshops were closed, and their owners refused to renew their business permits and went to work in factories in the city. Some of the businesses were closed because they were located in the Aryan area, and some closed due to the high taxes. In addition, at one particular project, the Jewish workshop owners were forced to work in workshops that were structured according to the example of the workshops in Lublin, where the Jewish workshop owners were forced to apprentice pupils from among the local population. There is much documentation regarding the payment of taxes that were imposed on the Jewish workshop owners.
 
 In October 1942, an association of workshop owners was established, in affiliation with the Judenrat. Almost half of the orders that the workshops received were for military purposes.
 
 The Yad Vashem Archives also has in its possession lists of Jews who were workers in the healthcare system.
 
 By order of the Stadtkommandant (military commander) of the city of Brest, General Walter van Unruh, starting on 16 August 1941, all of the Jews who were fit for labor were required to present themselves to the authorities from time to time for various labor assignments. The type of labor was determined in accordance with the demands of various military units and workforce organizations, and also on behalf of private individuals.
 
 On 17 September 1941, the Mayor of Brest, Bronikowski, gave the order that every Jew must labor for one day a week at public works assignments, without pay. The Jews of Brest worked in forced labor doing repair work, in the cleaning of streets and buildings, as laborers in factories, unloading and loading wagons and railroad cars, in moving, and in other labor assignments.
 
 During the night of 15 October 1942, the Brest Ghetto was surrounded and the "Aktion" began. The Jews were evicted from their homes to the street by soldiers with dogs, and any iota of resistance resulted in the immediate shooting of the Jews. The Jews who were too weak to leave the ghetto were also shot. 
 
 The trains arrived at an "irregular plot of land" in Bronnaya Gora, where mass murder was carried out on the Jews who were transported from Brest and from other places. Mass executions of Jews also took place in Brest itself, in the cemetery and near the Jewish hospital, where the patients were shot to death.
 
 Of the Jewish community of Brest, only 19 Jews survived. The community almost ceased to exist. The only Jews who survived were Jews who were not in Brest during the occupation of the city, and Jews who found a hiding place while hidden by local residents who risked their lives in order to help them. Several of the residents of Brest were recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. There were also Jews who survived because they succeeded in joining the partisans.
 
 Bibliography:
 
 Праведники народов мира Беларуси / Сост. Инна Герасимова, Аркадий Шульман. – Мн., 2004.
 
 Розенблат Евгений Семенович. Жизнь и судьба Брестской еврейской общины XIV-XX вв. – Брест, 1993. – 84 с.; Розенблат Евгений, Еленская Ирина Социально-демографическая структура Брестского гетто по материалам паспортизации еврейского населения // Евреи Беларуси. История и культура: Сб. науч. тр. – Минск, 1997. – Вып. 1. – С. 70-76.
 
 Browning, Christopher R., "Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2000, 135 pp.