History repeats itself: Lukashenka’s tax on idlers similar to Kaiser’s order in occupied Belarus


When German Kaiser Wilhelm’s army invaded the territory of present-day Belarus in 1916, the occupation authorities also introduced a penalty for social parasitism – so called idlers were facing an arrest or fine.

“Persons who laze away or disobedience orders to work in the fields, to harvest or to tend for cattle will be up to 3,000 German marks fined, or put in prison or under arrest up to 6 months, or both penalties will be imposed for their perseverance,” the occupiers’ order issued in Hrodna on 19 April 1916 says.

The order stressed that the same penalty shall be subject to any villager or town dweller, who would refuse to ‘come down to any paid job offered to them due to their reluctance, laziness or for any other reason’.

The document has been re-published by Hrodna-based news website ‘Your Style’ in an article about seizing Hrodna in the course of the First World War.

“However, strict German laws and regulations failed to help the German Emperor win the war machine of the Entente countries, especially that of the United States which joined the war against Germany and its allies in the spring of 1917. All that remained in Hrodna as a memento of the Germans after their leaving in the spring of 1919 is a heap of iron coins which no one wants and unused cards for bread and potatoes,” the article reads.

Interestingly, on 2 April 2015(!), Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed Decree Nr 3 (‘On Prevention of Social Dependency’).

Read also: Depardieu sings praises to Lukashenka: Tax on parasites is a great idea

The decree established the obligation of the citizens of Belarus, foreign citizens permanently residing in Belarus, stateless persons, who did not participate in the financing of public spending or participated in such financing less than 183 days (six months – ed.) in the past year, to pay a fee of 20 basic units (BYR 3 million 600 thousand, or about $250).

belsat.eu

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