Государственный архив Могилевской области

The State Archives of Mogilev Region was founded on July 5, 1938. In 1941 the Archives had 1.316 fonds with 650.000 items. In the Second World War part of documents were evacuated into the Soviet area unoccupied by the Nazis; the building was burned to the ground; 1.200 fonds (620.000 items) as well as reference and library materials were lost. Around 70.000 documents were taken by the Nazis to Riga, and part of them - to Tropau and Edolie. In December 1943 the Archives resumed its work in the town of Krichev, and in July 1944 it was moved to Mogilev. In 1944 its holdings included 30.000 items created by the activities of Soviet organizations in the Mogilev region before the Second World War; and around 15.000 items – records of the Nazi Occupation. Some documents were taken back from Riga and re-evacuated from Cheliabinsk and Tambov. 

Amount of holdings: 2.400 fonds, 476 250 items (57.433 items from the period before the mid-1941; 19.625 items from the Second World War) Chronological scope: from 1917 to the present Geographical coverage: the city of Mogilev and the Belynichi, Bykhov, Gorki, Dribin, Krugloe, Mogilev, Slavgorod, Chausy, and Shklov districts of the Mogilev region Contents: The Archives has amassed documents created by the provincial, region, district, town and village authorities, as well as records of various organizations in the fields of economics, finance, laws, culture and education dating from 1917 to 2007. The fonds of the revolutionary committees, the Mogilev Province Executive Committee, and the Mogilev Province Revolutionary Tribunal contain documents throwing light on the first steps of Soviet power, the formation of the Red Army units intended to fight against the German and Polish invaders, and the struggle against the internal counter-revolution, sabotage, and illegal price-fixing. The development of chemistry, machine-building and other industries in the city of Mogilev and in the Mogilev region are reflected in the fonds of regional executive committees, factories and plants. There are materials concerning the technical and economic cooperation between the Soviet Union and England (the fonds of the"Khimvolokn" plant of artificial fiber in Mogilev). The fonds of agricultural agencies and institutions contain data on the history of agriculture, in particular the reorganization of agricultural institutions, the development of cattle-breeding, flax cultivation and vegetable growing. The fonds of public education, the Belarusian Agricultural Academy, and other education institutions illustrate the development of public education in the region, and the professional training of specialists in the field of economics. The records of the Nazi occupation (1941—1944) hold data on the organizations that carried out the economic and punitive policy pursued by the German authorities. There is a collection of records (created by the board of the State Security Committee for the Mogilev Region) including data on 100.000 citizens who were deported to Germany, as well as the captured German cards for the Soviet prisoners of war who stayed in German camps. There are data concerning the detention of the Soviet citizens in Auschwitz, Dora, Stutthof and other concentration camps. Of especial interest are the archival records illuminating the heroic defence of the city of Mogilev in June- July 1941, the Nazi Occupation regime in the towns of Bobruisk and Mogilev, the places of forced detention for the civic population in the territory of the Mogilev region. The Archives keeps materials of the Mogilev Regional Commission for Assistance to the Extraordinary State Commission on Nazi Crimes and Damage in the Mogilev region, in particular data on damage inflicted on the region's economics, agriculture, church buildings, and cultural institutions. Also, the Archives preserves the fonds of personal papers relating to the participants of the October Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War in Russia: V. S. Bulba-Pankov, V. P. Golionko, M. T. Panasevich; the participants of the Second World War V. D. Guzov, D. I. Korotchenko, M. N. Migai, M. I. Semin; delegates of the Supreme Council of the USSR S. V. Matiushevski, S. I. Sikorski; specialists in local lore I. I. Filippovich, D. M. Abramovich; professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences I. V. Kostenich and other famous people from the Mogilev region. The records of the Belarusian Agricultural Academy include the personal file of the writer M. I. Goretski. The documentary materials narrate about the writer's scholarly and educational activity as the Academy's seniour lecturer of Belarusian studies in the years 1926-1928. The collection of personnel records includes records of various liquidated organizations in the Mogilev region.