Site #02: Pazeraevka Cemetery
Located just south of Blaine Lake, the Pazeraevka Cemetery marks the site of the former village of Pazeraevka, one of the original communal settlements established by Doukhobor pioneers. Unlike a typical cemetery that serves only as a place of rest, this site functioned for decades as a vital gathering place for the “Peter’s Day” (Petrov Dien) celebrations, anchoring the cultural identity of the region.
The Founding of Pazeraevka
The village was established in 1899 by Doukhobor immigrants who fled religious persecution in the Transcaucasia region of Tsarist Russia. According to the Doukhobor Genealogy Website’s village research series, the name “Pazeraevka” was chosen to honor a village of the same name in the Tiflis Governorate of Georgia (Russia), maintaining a linguistic link to their ancestral homeland. In its early years, the settlement operated under a communal system where land, labor, and resources were shared, reflecting the spiritual belief in the equality of all people.
Peter’s Day: A Legacy of Peace
Pazeraevka became the regional host for Petrov Dien for the Saskatchewan (Blaine Lake) Colony. As documented in the local history volume Bridging the Years: Era of Blaine Lake and District 1790-1980, this annual event held on June 29th was far more than a religious holiday; it was a commemoration of the 1895 “Burning of the Arms” in Russia, where Doukhobors destroyed their weapons as a definitive act of pacifism. Hundreds of people from across the district would gather at this site to participate in psalmy (traditional a cappella singing) and listen to orators reinforce the core Doukhobor motto: “Toil and Peaceful Life.”
Toil and Peaceful Life
The motto inscribed on the gate and echoed in the speeches at Pazeraevka—”Toil and Peaceful Life”—was the guiding principle of the leader Peter “Lordly” Verigin. As noted in the Saskatchewan Register of Heritage Assets for Doukhobor Prayer Homes, this philosophy emphasized that manual labor was a form of worship and that true peace could only be achieved through a life of self-sufficiency and non-violence. Even after the communal village system dissolved and families moved to individual homesteads in the early 20th century, the Pazeraevka site remained the spiritual “common ground” for the local community.
The Cemetery Today
Today, the site is a quiet reflection of the families who built the Riverlands. The Information Services Corporation (ISC) historical records indicate that while the physical structures of the village of Pazeraevka have long since vanished, the cemetery remains a protected parcel of land, serving as a permanent memorial to the Doukhobors who settled in Saskatchewan at the turn of the century, bringing with them a unique culture of choral music and agricultural innovation.