A special commission of the Comzet, the government department for settling the Jews on the land, which had been dispatched to the small towns of White Russia to investigate the situation there with regard to the lishentzy or people without rights, reports today that a great number of Jews there have been deprived of their right unlawfully by the local Soviets.
In addition to the illegal deprivation of rights of thousands of people, the local soviets also confiscated by unlawful means the property of hundreds and taxed them with impossible duties and declared them kulaks and nepmen. Among those who suffered from these measures are many Jewish artisans who were deprived of their rights simply because years ago members of their families conducted minor trading with a total stock of about ten roubles while their average monthly earnings amounted to twenty roubles.
The commission investigated the entire Minsk and Bobroisk regions. Provincial leaders there excuse their acts by saying that they were afraid they might be accused of “right” heresy if they were mild to the population. All of those who suffered from the illegal acts will now be reinstated in their rights.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
