The Peselnick family came from Tolochin.  Tolochin (now located in Belarus) was part of Russia and was in the Mogilev guberniya (Russian province).  Click on the following Mapquest Link to see a map (Tolochin is shown as Talacyn.  Zoom out one step to see a better representation of the area including Krupki, Orsa, and the city of Mogilev, shown as Mahileu.). 

Irving Berlin's family emigrated from Tolochin in 1893.  Tolochin was the site of some World War II battles and the town today has a World War II Memorial.  A Trip to Tolochin article has an interesting account of a trip to Tolochin in June of 2004.  Tolochiner Friends Association has a listing of the surnames of some of the members from 1941 to 1976.

According to the Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, Jews were first mentioned in 1717 for Tolochin.  The Jewish population was 648 in 1766 and 2,054 (of the total population of 3,415) in 1897.  In 1939 the Jewish population was 1,292.  The Germans occupied Tolochin on 7/6/1941 and executed the Jewish residents of Tolochin and nearby villages on 3/13/1942 near the village of Raitsy.  As of 2004, 25 Jews live in Tolochin, part of a total population of 36,000 Tolochin residents.