Petrovichi is a
villageThe classification system of the types of inhabited localities in Russia, the former Soviet Union, and some other post-Soviet states has certain peculiarities compared to the classification systems in other countries.-Modern classification in Russia:...
in Shumyachsky District of
Smolensk OblastSmolensk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its area is 49,786 square kilometers, population—1,019,000 ; 1,049,574 ; 1,158,299 . Its administrative center is the city of Smolensk. Other ancient towns include Vyazma and Dorogobuzh...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, located about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
and 16 km east of the border between
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
It is the birthplace of
Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov , was an American author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books...
. Asimov left at the age of three, with his parents and sister, migrating to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Before the
October RevolutionTheOctober Revolution , also known as the Soviet Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution. It began with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 Julian calendar...
, Petrovichi was a
shtetlA shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central and Eastern Europe...
of Klimovichy
uyezdUyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, and Russian Empire used from the 13th century, originally describing groups of several volosts formed around the most important cities...
(district) of
MogilevMogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
guberniyaA guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek...
of Imperial Russia.
Petrovichi is a
villageThe classification system of the types of inhabited localities in Russia, the former Soviet Union, and some other post-Soviet states has certain peculiarities compared to the classification systems in other countries.-Modern classification in Russia:...
in Shumyachsky District of
Smolensk OblastSmolensk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its area is 49,786 square kilometers, population—1,019,000 ; 1,049,574 ; 1,158,299 . Its administrative center is the city of Smolensk. Other ancient towns include Vyazma and Dorogobuzh...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, located about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
and 16 km east of the border between
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
It is the birthplace of
Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov , was an American author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books...
. Asimov left at the age of three, with his parents and sister, migrating to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Before the
October RevolutionTheOctober Revolution , also known as the Soviet Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution. It began with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 Julian calendar...
, Petrovichi was a
shtetlA shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central and Eastern Europe...
of Klimovichy
uyezdUyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, and Russian Empire used from the 13th century, originally describing groups of several volosts formed around the most important cities...
(district) of
MogilevMogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...
guberniyaA guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of Imperial Russia, usually translated as government, governorate, or province. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin , in turn from Greek...
of Imperial Russia. It was a historically
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
ian land, part of the
Northwestern KraiNorthwestern Krai , a part of the Western Krai, was a subdivision of Imperial Russia. It included the following six guberniyas:*Vilna Governorate*Kovno Governorate*Grodno Governorate*Minsk Governorate*Mogilev Governorate*Vitebsk Governorate...
of the Russian Empire. Its population was half
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish, half
BelarusianBelarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
. The town had both a church and a synagogue, each one with a school attached to it. By Asimov's memoirs, the place had never known of
pogromA pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centers...
s. There were amicable business connections, and even friendships, between the two communities. Asimov even reports non-Jews paying a friendly visit to the local
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
on at least one occasion.
TsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
Nicholas INicholas I , , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometres.Nicholas I was born in Gatchina to Emperor Paul I and...
(who ruled from 1825 to 1855) at one point ordered the expulsion of all Jewish people who resided in
Great RussiaGreat Russia is an obsolete name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and, later, Russia...
, or
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
proper, outside of the
Pale of SettlementThe Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, along its western border, in which permanent residence of Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish residence was generally prohibited...
. However, a rich and powerful Russian landlord, who owned much land on both sides of the border, saved the Jewish community of Petrovichi from "
ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansing is a term that has come to be used broadly to describe all forms of ethnically inspired violence, ranging from murder, rape, and torture to the forcible removal of populations...
" by illegally moving the border marker from the west to the east of the shtetl. Thus he saved half of the people of the town from much suffering, and he also saved himself from losing their talents and skills. Petrovichi was an important hub of the wheat trade, and Jewish traders in wheat were respected for their honesty and efficiency. Petrovichi became part of Belarus for several decades. After WWI, the Russian Revolution, and the ensuing civil wars were over, the town became part of Russia again, but now there were no more bans on Jewish people living anywhere in that country.
In 1941, Petrovichi was occupied by the German armies. Those Jewish inhabitants who did not flee in time were massacred.
During the Soviet times the settlement briefly belonged to Gomel guberniya of the
Russian SFSRThe Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , also called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, the Russian SFSR and the RSFSR for short, was the largest and most populous of the fifteen Soviet republics of the Soviet Union and became the Russian...
, then it was transferred to
Smolensk OblastSmolensk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its area is 49,786 square kilometers, population—1,019,000 ; 1,049,574 ; 1,158,299 . Its administrative center is the city of Smolensk. Other ancient towns include Vyazma and Dorogobuzh...
of the RSFSR, and the population dwindled significantly.