Parafyanovo

The village of Parafyanovo, Dokshitsy district, Vitebsk region

In Belarus, there are many villages and towns, in which amazing monuments of architecture and culture, unknown to tourists, have been preserved. One of these places is the small village of Parafyanovo, located in the Dokshitsy district of the Vitebsk region, on the bank of the Galyadza River. It gained fame thanks to the snow-white church of the Virgin Mary.

Pages of the history of the village of Parafyanovo

Despite its small size and population (just a few dozen people), the village of Parafyanovo boasts a rich history. The first written mention of the village can be found in the annals of the 15th century. The history of the same village is closely connected with the Church of the Virgin Mary, which is still considered the main attraction of Parafianovo. The first temple, then still wooden, was erected here in 1624. There was practically no information about him: the sanctuary was destroyed during the Russo-Polish War (1654-1667). Despite the fact that the first church of the Virgin Mary was burned by Russian troops, its image was preserved in old books.

The next milestone in the history of the village of Parafyanovo is associated with the second section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1773. By its results, the village became part of the lands of the Russian Empire. She constantly changed the owners and belonged to the dynasty of the Pszdziezkies, or to the Tyshkevich family.

In 1886 there lived only 45 people, which, incidentally, did not prevent the erection of a magnificent stone church in Parafianovo at the beginning of the 20th century.

Soviet times and the Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, the village of Parafyanovo was one of the first to be occupied by the Germans in June 1941. Historical chronicles also record the fact that the first murdered resident of Parafyanovo was the Jew Aaron Levitan. Subsequently, a ghetto was formed in the village, where all Jews were expelled, not only from Parafyanovo, but also from the surrounding villages.

During the occupation, 600 people were killed. When the SS troops arrived in Parafyanovo on May 31, 1942, the remaining victims of the ghetto were buried alive in a pit, which the SS men forced themselves and dig out. Only a small part of the Jews of Parafyanovo managed to escape the terrible fate. Many of them subsequently joined the guerrilla movement.

In memory of the tragedy in the village of Parafyanovo in 2005, a stone with an inscription in Hebrew, Belarusian and English languages ​​was installed, and lists of the dead were also published.

The most damaged temple in the postwar period, when the Soviets came to power. A very small part of the Belarusian churches escaped the sad fate, and the Church of the Virgin Mary was no exception. It was closed, in the building for a long time the warehouse was located. Only at the end of the last century, in 1988, the church was returned to the parishioners again.