Fetești

The village of Fetești is one of the oldest villages in Edineți district. According to documents it appears at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century, which corresponds to the testimonies of the oldest inhabitants (testimonies made in 1942). This territory has been populated since the time of Stephen the Great. 

The question of the village's establishment and the history of its development was the subject of debate in legal proceedings in the 1820s-40s. The lawsuit was brought to court by the former owners of the village and the state in order to determine the owner of the estate. It was necessary to answer the question: did Fetești bear the name of Hrițeni or not? The court, denying this fact, would pass the village into the possession of the state. But historical documents indicate otherwise. Public records from 16th-17th, along with court documents reveal the following: 

The village is located on the territory of Hotin county; 

It is defined as an integral estate with the village of Vicicăuți (Trinca), and a number of villages in Hotin county (today on the territory of Briceni district or in Chernivtsi region). 

Thus we can say that the old name of the village is Hrițeni and only towards the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century the name Fetești appears. 

By a decree of Petru Voda on July 3, 1575 the village of Hriteni with a mill is passed to Odochia, daughter of Luca Arbore, gatekeeper of Suceava. So previously the village had belonged to Luca Arbore, member of the Royal Court, beheaded in 1523 by Stephen the Younger. 

The following documents refer to the 17th century, when the village passes into the possession of the Ponici family and its descendants. 

6 April 1606 - a deed signed by Erimia Movilă to Dumitru Ponici for half of Hrițeni. 

3 November 1621 - a deed from Radu I Mihnea to deacon Ponici for a number of villages in Hotin County, including half of the village of Hriteni. The deed is given in connection with the plundering of Ponici's house, as these documents were taken by thieves during the heist. 

April 30, 1635 - a deed from Vasile Lupu to deacon Ponici for half of the village Hriteni in Hotin county. 

Then the village of Hriteni appears in the census of 1772-1774. According to these data there were 40 inhabited houses and 5 deserted houses in the village, 45 men and a priest. However, there were names of only 23 people. 

The following families establish themselves here during this period: Gribință, Movilă, Furtună, Ursul, Ocrain, Roșca, Budeanu, Traistă, Baltă, Leurdă. Some settlers are identified by first name and occupation, i.e. Petre the Miller, Istrate the Shoemaker, Gigoraș the Stitcher, Simion the Bootmaker, etc. The owner is Apostol Holubei who receives these estates (Hrițeni and Sficicăuți/Trinca) following his marriage to Maria Dohateu, Ponici's great-granddaughter. 

Their daughter - Parascovia Golubeva - filed the lawsuit in 1846. Other landowners were also involved in the proceedings, such as the State Councillor Crupenschi, Captain Gavril Stroici. 

This process, which lasted for more than 20 years, has brought enough hardship and damage to the whole village. In 1815 the Supreme Council of Bessarabia and the Court of Justice decided to allocate half of the village to Ionita Grigorei. The latter, being an Austrian subject, lived beyond the borders of Bessarabia and leased the estate to Nicolae Procopici. The new owner cut down about 20 thousand large trees without having the right to do so. As a result, Stroescu files a complaint with the Hotin County Court. The court case takes a new turn. Numerous documents were brought in (decree of expropriation, fortification, etc.) from 1606 onwards, which restored the Ponici family tree and the testimonies of the village elders. The latter also claimed that the village of Fetești had previously been called Hrițeni. 

Ignoring, however, any documentary material, testimonies, judgments of the Hotin County Court, the Supreme Court of Bessarabia denies the right of ownership to Ponici's descendants, citing as reason the lack of the name of Hrițeni on the territory of the county Hotin at that time. 

In fact, it is a natural consequence of the treaty of 1812, when the population and the nobility of Moldavia broke in two. Any question concerning the land holdings in Bessarabia of the Moldovan nobles was examined by the Moldavian Divan and a special committee in Iasi, but their decisions did not come into force without the approval of the Russian General Council in Iasi. The latter strictly guarded the rights and interests of the Russian Empire. As a rule, the examination of disputes ended with decisions identical to the one in the case of Hriţeni – Feteşti village. 

In the 19th century the village belonged to Gavril Stroici Scordeli, the merchant Shimon Caufman, and to a group of free peasants. 

In 1904 it is attested as "the old Romanian village of the "răzeși" (free peasants). It has 280 houses, 1872 souls, church" 

At this time the peasants had 270 heads of cattle, 107 horses. In the first decade of the 20th century, a 4-year school was opened. On average, the number of pupils per year reached 40. Lessons were held by the village priest Gheorghe Balabanov, then by Pavel Barbos and teacher Popovici.

 This period also covers the ownership of land issue. Disputes between landowners and tenants were settled by the Peasants' Bank and the Commission for the Regulation of Land Tenure. But there were often cases of land seizure without legal authorization: in 1917, following the action of Father Pavel Barbos, a group of peasants seized half of the church lands; there was also abuse of power. In this case the local representatives of the land committee - Semeon Ocrain, Pentelei Seuța, Vasile Cristea, Ivan Ursu - imposed restrictions on the rights to land belonging to the tenants of the Peasants' Bank. 

It was a difficult period, with changes of political regime and power, a period with few written documents, but with many sufferings embedded in the soul and destiny of the simple peasant. 

The year of 1942 provides a broader picture. 

In 1942, Fetești is the centre of the commune of 2 villages: Fetești and Gordinești. The ethnic population of the commune is 4656 Romanians, 335 Ukrainians, 27 Russians, 6 Poles, 5 Germans. There are 2 churches, 3 primary schools and a Cultural Centre. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Domains has set up a horse breeding farm in the commune of Fetești. The commune has a total of 616 horses, 1095 cattle, 3461 sheep and 1389 pigs. The agricultural inventory contained: ploughs - 376, harrows - 343, sowing machines - 12, cultivators - 44, tiller - 9, agricultural tractors - 10, etc. 

These were the basic elements with which Fetești entered a new period: war, famine, deportations, collectivisation, socialism.