History

The first impression you get of the Tolochin region is that it is a quiet land of woods and rivers. Yet the region has witnessed many dramatic historical events.

The territory of the Tolochin region was inhabited during the Middle Stone Age, approximately in 9.000 B.C. In those times, tribes of the Upper-Dnepr, Narva, North-Belarusian, Dnepr-Dvina and Bantserovschina aread lived in this territory. Settlements were found near the villages of Ugolevschina, Zarechje, Shashelovka, Bagrinovo and others.

The settlements of the region were first mentioned in chronicles in the 11th – 12th centuries. The ancient chronicles mention 10 towns of Rus’ western lands including the town of Drutsk. In 2001, Drutsk celebrated its 1000th anniversary. In the 10th-13th centuries, Drutsk was the southern border of the Principality of Polotsk. Drutsk was an important place on the way “From the Vikings to the Greeks” which ran through the territory of the region.
In 1001, Most Holy Mother of God Church, one of the first Orthodox churches in the territory of modern Belarus, was built in the town of Drutsk. The Princes of Drutsk held important positions in the Principality of Polotsk and then in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Sophia, the wife of Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Jogaila, was from the family of the Princes of Drutsk (nee Golshanskaya).
The center of the region, the town of Tolochin, was mentioned in chronicles in 1433 as a settlement in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The settlement belonged to the Princes of Drutsk and their ancestors and starting the 17th century, Tolochin belonged to Lev Sapega, the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1604, Lev Sapega built a wooden Catholic church there which was remade into the Orthodox Church of the Patronage of the Mother of God in 1804. Today, it is the Convent of the Patronage of the Mother of God.
   
After the first partition of the Rzecz Pospolita (1772), the eastern part of the town of Tolochin became a part of the Russian Empire. It was named as Old Tolochin or Russian Tolochin (border checkpoint). The western part of Tolochin was named as New Tolochin and it had been a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth till 1793.

During the war of 1812, in November, French Emperor Napoleon stayed in the town of Tolochin. The building where he stayed survives. Old Tolochin – the center of the Old Tolochin volost of the Kopyl uyezd, since 1861 – the Orsha uyezd. New Tolochin – the center of the Zarechnotolochin volost of the Senno uyezd of Mogilev gubernia.

In 1897, the population of Tolochin was 2,614 people. In early 20th century, there were 2 tanneries, a brickworks, a brewery, a mill, a school and 2 public colleges in Tolochin.

After the October Revolution, in November 1917, the Local Council comprising 1008 soldiers and 600 workers was founded in Tolochin.

In 1918, Germany occupied the territory of the modern Tolochin region. The occupation lasted for about 8 months. On October 26, the town of Tolochin was liberated by troops of the Red Army. The Soviet regime was restored.

The first socialist reforms of the local agricultural sector began in the 1919-1920s. Collective farm “Raitsy”, a number of communes were set up in the Tolochin region.

From 1920, Tolochin was a part of the Vitebsk province of the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic. From July 17, 1924, Tolochin was the center of the region, a part of the Orsha district. From 1938, Tolochin was a part of the Vitebsk oblast of the Belarusian Soviet Socialistic Republic.

Two weeks after the start of the Great Patriotic War on June 22, 1941, Tolochin became a center of fierce battles between the Nazi troops and the 1st Moscow division. After three days of the battles the Nazis seized the town.
During the Great Patriotic War, more than 10 thousand residents of Tolochin went to the front to defend the Motherland. During the war, around 12 partisan brigades and other units functioned in the territory of the region. 

Tolochin was liberated on June 26, 1944 by the 5th Tank Army led by Armored Troops Marshal Pavel Rotmistrov.

During the World War II, the region suffered big losses. 9,521 people were killed in Tolochin and in the region; 2,5 thousand people were sent Germany as slave labourers. More than 4.3 thousand residents of the Tolochin region were killed at the fronts of the World War II, about 580 people were killed fighting against the Nazis in partisan brigades and underground movement. Today the Tolochin region numbers 184 veterans of the World War II.

The residents of the modern Tolochin maintain the traditions of their predecessors and feel obliged to write a new page of history of the native land by own labour and enthusiasm never forgetting their roots ad traditions.