Petr Shelokhonov was born in 1929, in Belarus, then a part of the Soviet Union;[1][2] Petr Larionovich Shelokhonov (also known as Peter, Pyotr, or Petro Larionovich Schelochonovich in Belarusian, Polish, Yiddish and Ukrainian). His ancestors originated from Ukraine, from Baltic states and from Poland.