RESETTLEMENT OF CZECH PEASANTS IN WESTERN UKRAINE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000300180005-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 2003
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: July 23, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved
CENTRAL INTEL
INFORMATI
LIGENCE' AGENCY
ON REPORT
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COUNTRY USSR (Western Ukraine)
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF I:
Resettlement of Czech Peasants in
Western Ukraine
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THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS IHFONNATION AFFECTIN9 THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES. WITHIN THE NEANINEOF TITLE I9. SECTIONS 793
ANO 79N. Oi THE V.S. CO DL. AE AMENDED. ITS TR ANSYISEION OR REOC.
CATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO ON RECEIPT ?Y AN U000 TNORI EEO PERSON IS
PROHIRITEE ET LAW. TEE NEPSOOUCTION OF THIS FORM 1S FN0N191TEO.
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DATE DISTR. 13 Jul 1953
NO. OF PAGES 2
NO. OF ENCLS.
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SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
to The region where my family lived in Czechoslovakia was-hilly and poor for agri-
culturDey and when Communist agitators promised us heaven on earth if we would re-
settle in Western Ukraine,, we were naturally susceptible. They told us that we
would be given free hospital care, labor unions,-free schoolse etc. Local
Communists, such-as an uncle of -thine who had been a Party member since 1935: and
who was - almost. illiterate, spoke at meetings of the village council,-and later
were=joined by Party agitators from Kiev in the USSR,. The property that we cxned
in our-grillage of Toriski was appraised, including land, buildings, equipment.
livestock and the crops that we had planted in the fields and we were given docu-
ments showing that we had left this property. We were promised that we would re-
ceive the equivalent when we got to the Ukraine. If. we received more, we were to
be given a 15 year bank loan in order to finance the difference in value. As it
turned out,-the house our family received was better-than. the-one we had left.
On the other hand, we could receive Loans and assistance-in building a house if
this became necessary. We were also told that we would be free farmers for two
years E1 Another means of persuasion - p.sed by the Soviet- agitators was that of
telling some of the families in our village that they were really of Russian ori-
gin and that they should return to their homeland 0 We were told that it Was
pointless to bring along anything bulky since everything would. be provided when
we Arrived in the Ukraine.
2. We arrived in the Village of Podtsurkovo near Zdolbunovo in the Rovno oblast in
February 1947, Our disillusionment with the Soviet regime began as soon as we
crossed the border and. began to feel the weight of Soviet authoritarianism but
it was then too late to do anything about it.
3, The village of Podtsurkovo had been populated by about 60 families, all but two
of which were Czechs. These were people who had emigrated to this area years be-
forey in the days of the Tsar. Some time before we arrived, they-asserted that
they-were Czech nationals and derrided to be repatriated, since they disliked.the
Soviet regime. A few of these families were still in Podtsurkovo when we arrived.
They were afraid to tell us what conditions-would-be like-for us, but we already
had-some inkling of it,. We tried to talk to the Soviet authorities and tell them
we wanted to see the Soviet agitators who had made all the glowing promises to. us
in Czechoslovakia, but we never saw them a aD s impossible to talk with.
CLASSIFICATION SECRET 25X1
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 Approved For Release 2003/p8/06 m - - 000 Oo - 25X1
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those Soviets0 Whatever we said, they would evade the issue and. bring up-something else,
so that it was impossible to'e'stablish rapport with them0 In answer to our request for
the things we bad been promised, they,told.,us that the Soviets themselves were in dire
need and could spare' us nothing. As a- consequence we had-no seed and our family could
day plant li hectares of spring crops that fist year, out of 6z hectares-of land that
had been put at-our disposal. When we-arrived, the family that had previously occupied
this farm had planted winter crops ovf wheat, barley, oats etc. on about 21 hectares which
we.harvested in July 1947. The yield was fairly - good" that first year m about 25 quintals
of wheat to the hectares. We had one hectare of wheat, one-half hectare of rye, less than
one-half becta a of potatoes and the rest miaaellaneous4
We shared. the village of Podtsurkovo with some. Ukrainian families who arrived shortly
after we Czechs. These Ukrainians had formerly lived,-around Lublin, west of the Bug river
in -Poland. As I understood it, they left Poland around. 1945-1946 for a variety of reasons.
It was ru .:red that some had been-driven'-out by the local Poles., some had hoped to find a
~etter.? 11t e in the USSR, and. some had been forced by Soviet authorities to settle in the
Ukraine. `-hose families that eventually came to our village had at first been settled in
the area of?-Phitomir Berson-Zaporozheo Finding conditions intolerable there, and seeking
to .. de-i,th by starvation,, they arbitrarily pulled up and left, ending up in.. Podtsurkovo 0
I am not sure what their exact legal position was at the time. They had been kolkhoz mem-
bersaad were. liable to prosecution for--Leaving-without authorization. However, I has the
i ressien-that the regime was too shaky at the time to impose control in that area, and
if the people had not been so weakened with hunger, they could have suceesdfu:lly staged a
local revolts Since-we Czechs ~3.isliked administrative and political activitiesQ 'these
tl ainians' oon assumesa all responsibility in this works They did. the same as-we did,-
taking over the hoes and fields of the Czechs who. had formerly been there. They were
quite crowded however, living-two-and three families-to a house.
As early as the Fall.of 1947 we were subject to propaganda on the advantages of a collec-
- ?tive farm economy with a view to persuading us to Jain a ko].kbQz; However, we were unre-
ceptive0 ' During the harvest season, in July 1949 'the Ukrainians ixi our village were given
the alt?eriative of Joining the kolkhoz or going to prison. It was possible'.to apply this
kind of pressure. because they had illegally left kolkhozes around the Zhitomir-Kh,.erson-
Zaporozhe area, and were subsequently subject to prosecution, In neighboring villages
some of the peasants refused to join the kolkhoz and were sent_tQ,,;prtson, and, then the rest
gave in and joined 0 In 1950, in a-neighboring village, those who did not join the ko1,kk=
hoz did not,have the right to till land, and consequently, half the acreage. went unplantedo
In our_villaKe, everyone joined the kolkhoz by the Fall of 19500, The mbst effective means
of forcing our farmers Into the'kolkhoz was the imposition of-heavy taxes and assessments.
In 1947, we only paid taxes in kind and not at an established rate. However., in the Fall
of 1947 we succeeded in planting most of our acreage in winter crops and by 1948 we had. to
pay taxes based on sown ad-teage0 By 1949, we had the following Government procurement
quotas for our family property,
9 out of approximately 100 harvested quintals - 69 had to be delivered to the State
potatoes o out of about 80 harvested quintals - 40 had to be delivered to the State.
cut of about 15 quintals harvested m 10 were delivered. to the State.
In addition we .. were assessed 'f or_ 270 liters of milk and. 125 kilograms -of -meat from our
one cow. This of course had to be purchased on the-open market by us and then delivered
to the Sate, And. finally; we were assessed-59200 rubles in money. In order-to pay this,
we. sold our horse -for 2,100 rubles; and our cow for.1,600 ?ubleso We received 400 rubles
for the.grain we had delivered to the State at State prices. These taxes were obviously
designed to force our family to join 'the k6lk zo We did manage to pay all our taxes
that year, but only at the price of many hungry days fo ? our family. In 2 y, 1950 those
who still had not-joined the kolkhoz -were obliged to pay even heavier taxes:,. while the kol.k-
hoz-had a comparatively lighter assessment which was easier-to pay for the individual
families comprising the kolklaoz0 (Although they were obliged to sell some of their grain
to buy certain livestock which. the kolkhoz was-obliged to possess.) This-was a hint to
tngee who had still not Joined that it would be easier for them if they did joins- In 1950,
we were told to deliver 90 quintals of grain, and to pay 9,300 rubles in currency. To
give an idea of how exorbitant this tax was, our house in the village was only assessed at
19,000 rubles, which meant that we paid a tax of 50% of the value of our house in one year.
We obviously'had no means to pay such a tax, so we were forced to join the kolkhoz0 My
father complained about his treatment, and stated that he wanted to ,go back to Czechosl.o-
25X1 vakia with his-family and for this he was arrested. and exiled F__ I
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