Pustoshchka

Until 1900, the settlement was a small Jewish town, of which there were many in the Pale of Settlement. The Pale of Settlement, i.e. the border beyond which Jews were not allowed to settle in Russia, passed through Nevel, from which Pustoshka was about 50 kilometers.

The village was surrounded by forests and lakes, in the neighborhood, along the northern shore of Lake Krupeyskoye was the village of Zvyagi, on the bank of the Krupeya River - the village of Krupeya with a tavern and a grocery store, this village belonged to the merchant - Old Believer Smirnov, the shops and tavern were traditionally owned by Jews.

If we turn to historical sources, we can find out that the old Kiev-Saint Petersburg highway ran through this "impassable" swamp, and on it there was already a small place called Pustoshka (later called Old Pustoshka). In Pustoshka there was a post station, from which couriers hurried in all directions with dispatches. Few people lived there, and, mostly, Jews.

In these places lived a large family of Zvyagins, who received a surname, as was usually given to Jews in the times of Catherine, by the name of the nearest settlements: in our case, by the name of the village of Zvyagi or Lake Zvyagi - Zvyaginy. Despite Russian surnames, Jews of the 19th century retained their identity and had Jewish names.

There was not enough space in Pustoshka for the numerous descendants of the Zvyagins, and their children moved to nearby towns: Nevel, Opochka, Bezhanitsy, Loknya, Sebezh, Polotsk, Gorodok, etc.

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