REMARKS ON COMPULSORY MATERIAL SUPPLIES IN THE VOIVODESHIPOF BIALYSTOK IN 1944-1946

The introduction in 1944 of compulsory supplies of farm produce for the state, was perceived as a continuation of the occupation-era contingents, abhorred by the rural population. The Polish Committee for National Liberation legitimised the duty of material services in decrees issued on 18 and 22 August 1944. The dimension of the supplies imposed upon the voivodeship of Bialystok did not take into consideration the catastrophic economic situation of the region. The contingents exceeded their occupation-era predecessors by about 50%. The voivodeship authorities tried to correct the size of supplies which could not be provided by the local population, albeit only slightly. An overwhelming majority of the peasants remained hostile to the contingents. The owners of larger farms in the western counties of the voivodeship of Bialystok declared aloud that 'they shall not provide contingents for the communists'. The situation in areas with a predominance of a Belorussian population (primarily the eastern part of the counties of Bielsk Podlaski, Bialystok and Sokólka) was entirely different. Here, supplies were delivered on time. Those who resisted were frequently summoned to the Security Office, and detained for as much as two weeks. Numerous cases were forwarded to the Delegature of the Special Commission for Combat against Abuse and Economic Damage, which deported some of the peasants to forced labour camps. In several cases, units collecting the contingents in villages perpetrated murders.