ACTIVITY OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE EVALUATION OF DAMAGES CAUSED TO THE BSSR ECONOMY BY THE POLISH ARMY AND OCCUPATION AUTHORITIES

After the Treaty of Riga was signed in March 1921, the BSSR leaders had to address the issues of recovering the economy, returning property from abroad and searching for internal and external financial resources. While the issue of re-evacuation was more or less under control through the Polish-Russian-Ukrainian Commission for Re-evacuation established in May 1921, the issue of reimbursement for damages caused by Polish troops and occupation authorities simply hung in the air. The process of determining the exact figure of the damages only started in early 1922. It was initiated by the RSFSR People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. At that very time, on 21 January 1922, the BSSR Council of People’s Commissariats adopted a resolution to establish the Ad Hoc Commission for the Evaluation of Damages Caused by the Polish Army and Occupation Authorities to the State, Private Persons and Institutions in the Territory of the BSSR. The Commission operated in the conditions of underfunding and low competence of technical personnel and was limited in time and capacity. The total damages to the Republic amounted to 9,034,208,319 Soviet roubles or 52,029,281 pre-war roubles 34 kopecks.

damage, Polish-Soviet War, Polish occupation, Polish-Russian-Ukrainian Re-evacuation Commission

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10. NARB [NARB], F. 9., Op. 1., D. 52.

11. NARB [NARB], F. 9., Op. 1., D. 6b.