Pishchura Boris Alexandrovich
Photo: Heritage JAO
April 23, 1937
On this day, Boris Aleksandrovich Pishchura, Honorary Citizen of the Jewish Autonomous Region, was born into a peasant family in the village of Otrada, Tokarevsky district, Tambov region.
In 1945, he, an 8-year-old boy, delivered feed to the barnyard, and from the age of 13, he worked in haymaking along with adults. After finishing seven classes, he joined the collective farm brigade, which carried out repairs and construction in the village. Then he studied to become a turner for two years.
After graduating from school, he entered the Voronezh Civil Engineering Institute. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the Far East. From 1962 to 1998 he worked in the Birobidzhanagropromstroy system. He worked his way up from master builder to general director.
Under the leadership of Boris Aleksandrovich and with his personal participation, rural social and cultural facilities were built, the production base of the agro-industrial complex was created and strengthened in most districts of the region, livestock farms, potato and grain cleaning complexes, schools, kindergartens, cultural centers and residential buildings, and a vocational school were built in the village. Leninsky.
Boris Alexandrovich has always enjoyed well-deserved authority among workers of construction enterprises and residents of the region; he was repeatedly elected as a people's deputy and member of the executive committee of the Birobidzhan District Council.
In 1997, by a resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Jewish Autonomous Region, he was awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the Jewish Autonomous Region.”
Until 2005, he worked as the chief specialist of the Birobidzhan City Court for technical supervision of construction.
B.A. Pishchura was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, the medal “Veteran of Labor”, and the badge “Excellent Border Guard” – for assistance in organizing and participating in the detention of the saboteur.
On April 9, 2019, Boris Alexandrovich passed away.
Memorial plaque to Boris Pishchura. Photo: Photo: EAOMedia news agency archive
On the house st. Parkovaya 14, where Boris Aleksandrovich Pishchura lived, a memorial plaque was installed on March 4, 2020.
April 23, 1938
Newspaper clippings. Photo: Photo: Regional Library
The newspaper “Birobidzhan Star” (12+) in the heading “To help agitators and propagandists” published a continuation of the article “Ten Years of Birobidzhan”, this issue describes the development of agriculture in the Jewish Autonomous Region from 1928 to 1938. What was agriculture like and how did it develop with the arrival of the first settlers here, how much work was invested in the first 10 years of development of this territory.
Socialist agriculture of the Jewish Autonomous Region
“…Agriculture remains the most important sector of the region's economy today. The party and the government, in their repeated instructions and directives on the socialist construction of the region, have constantly emphasized the need and importance of creating their own food base in the region.”
In the fields of the region 10 years ago
“When the first settlers arrived in the Birobidzhan region, agriculture here was concentrated mainly in the Amur Cossack villages. The sown area was 15.9 thousand hectares, of which only 188 hectares were collective farm crops. Agriculture was carried out in the most primitive and predatory way, without any agricultural technology, with an insignificant number of machines. It had the same primitive character livestock farming. The beginning of the Jewish resettlement to Birobidzhan coincided with the beginning of the first Stalinist five-year plan…”
Resettlement collective farms
“Agricultural resettlement to the Jewish Autonomous Region from the very beginning followed the collective farm path…”.
State allocations for collective farm resettlement and for the construction of resettlement collective farms grew from year to year. Significant funds were allocated for housing construction and economic development of collective farmers – resettlers, for uprooting and land reclamation, etc. The technical level of agriculture in the region grew from year to year. Now we have 17 Jewish resettlement state farms, which by January 1, 1938 numbered 516 collective farm families. The sown area of resettlement collective farms amounted to 7,147 hectares in 1937.”
For 10 years of socialist labor
“In 1937, the actual sown area in the region reached 36,776 hectares, that is, during the 10 years of Jewish resettlement in the region, the sown area more than doubled.
The number of collectivized households, which reached 1.8% of the total number of farms in 1928, reached 78% in 1934 and 95% in 1937.
There is also a large grain state farm in the region in Stalinsk (Stalinfeld in the 1950s, the village ceased to exist – author), created mainly on newly developed lands.
Collective farms sown 97.8% of the total sown area in 1937, collective farmers in their personal plots – 2%, and only 0.1% of the sown area belonged to individual farmers.
The plantings of industrial crops such as soybeans, potatoes and vegetables have increased significantly. Soybeans occupied 199 hectares in 1928, and 4925 hectares in 1937 – an increase of 2480%.
The socialist agriculture of our region is equipped with a wealth of technology, which is growing from year to year. In 1934 there were three MTS serving 30 collective farms; now there are eight MTS serving 53 collective farms.
In 1934, eight tractors from the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) and 53 tractors from the Stalin Tractor Plant (STZ) worked on the socialist fields of the region. In 1937, 106 ChTZ and 111 STZ were operating. On collective farms served by MTS, harvesting with combines amounted to 66% of grain crops in 1937, and on the grain state farm – 97%.
The predatory, primitive way of cultivating the land is a thing of the past. Plowing fallow plowed land, vernalization, varietal sowing, fertilizing fields – all this has become deeply embedded in the agriculture of the region. If in 1932 a total of 689 hectares of fallow were plowed, then in 1937 11,660 hectares were plowed; plowed land was raised in 1932 on 5,606 hectares, and in 1937 on 22,475 hectares. In 1937, for the first time, 590 hectares were sown with vernalized seeds and 3,609 varietal crops.”
Socialist animal husbandry
“Since 1934, the number of cattle in the region has almost doubled, the number of pigs has almost tripled, and the number of goats has increased almost fivefold. The growth of livestock farming in general is accompanied by the rapid growth of socialized livestock farming – the number of collective farms and the number of livestock in them is growing.”
Birobidzhan honey
“The forests and meadows of our region are rich in plants, which are an excellent basis for the development of such a profitable economy as beekeeping. Already in 1930, there were 8,538 bee families in the region, including 6,512 on collective farms. And in 1936, we already had 19,395 bee families in the region, including 12,111 on collective farms. Prospects for beekeeping in the region huge…”
April 23, 1985
By decision of the Birobidzhan City Executive Committee No. 199, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, Zapadnaya Street was renamed 40 Let Pobedy Street.
April 23, 1999
The Central Children's Library moved to new premises at Sholom Aleichem 34 and became known as the Center for Children's and Youth Books (CDYUK). The history of the children's library began in 1949. In September 1966, the children's library was allocated premises at the Palace of Culture. And so, 50 years later, the children's library moved to its own premises, separate from other institutions, where it is located to this day.
In 2020, the Center for Children's and Youth Books became the second model library in the Jewish Autonomous Region.
The library is a leisure center, a center for the development of the intellectual and creative abilities of children and youth. The Center does a lot of work to promote literature among all age groups of users. A variety of public events are held here that contribute to the development of children’s artistic and aesthetic taste, creative abilities, respect for the historical past of our homeland, and form an ecological culture.
