We begin at the memorial sign "Polotsk - the geographical center of Europe", which  was installed here in 2008. It was designed by the chief architect of the city Andrey Borovik. In the 19th century, right here, running from south to north,  ran a street called Jewish Street. After the revolution it was called International Street. In the 19th century Jews made up the bulk of the urban population. In 1897 in Polotsk, out of 20,294 inhabitants, 12,450 were Jews. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 20 synagogues in the city. There was also an administrative form of Jewish self-government, called the "kagal", where the wealthier had power, but at the same time, it provided mutual assistance. Some of the merchants: Mints, Rabinovich, Barkan, were engaged in charity work. They opened hospitals and pharmacies, where medicines were given to the poor for free. Most of the Jews were engaged in petty trade. Let's visualize a bit, and imagine this Jewish Street with its Jews, who had their own shops, small workshops, where the owner himself worked. These were hat, watch, jewelry shops, photographic workshops, hairdressers, bakeries, workshops for the repair and manufacture of metal products, bank offices. In addition to the rabbis who served the synagogues, there was also the chief state rabbi in Polotsk. He did not serve in the synagogue, but was a government official. He registered marriages, births and deaths. The last such rabbi in the city was Epstein. Most of the Jews were engaged in petty trade, but there were also large enterprises, such as the namesake tobacco  factory of the merchant Yankel Rivlin.