1899. There were leather and malt factories in the town, a postal and telegraph station, four schools including one maintained by the monastery, and a hospital. Pechory was known for its flax trade, that was further expanded during the consequent Estonian period of the town's history. From 25 February to 30 November 1918, Pechory was occupied by the Germans. During the Estonian War of Independence and, simultaneously, the Russian Civil War, the town was occupied by the Estonian army on March 29, 1919. The centre of the Governorate, Pskov, was occupied by the anti-Bolshevik Russian Northwestern Army, that was later in August 1919 repelled back by the Red Army. Under the terms of the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that stipulated the border along the actual front line between the Red and Estonian Armies, so Pechory and the adjacent Western part of Setomaa were ceded to Estonia. In the interbellum, Petseri, as it was called at that time, was the centre of Petseri County, one of the eleven counties that made up the Republic of Estonia. Under Estonian rule, the town's population more than doubled, predominantly due to the arrival of ethnic Estonians. Tuition at the municipal primary schools was conducted in both Russian and Estonian, with more bias toward the latter following the Schools Reform of 1934. In May 1925, most of the land owned by the Pskov-Caves Monastery was confiscated by the Estonian government and provided to new settlers. St. Peter's Lutheran Church was built in 1926. In 1939, a huge fire broke out in the town, destroying 212 wooden buildings and killing many inhabitants. During World War II, after the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940, the town initially remained part of the Estonian SSR. The town was occupied by the German Army from July 10, 1941 until August 11, 1944 and administered as part of the Generalbezirk Estland of Reichskommissariat Ostland. In 1943–1944, the Germans operated a forced labour camp for Jews in the town. According to a decree of USSR Supreme Soviet dated 23 August 1944 and a decree dated January 16, 1945, Pechory and the eastern part of Petseri County were transferred to the Pskov Oblast of the Russian SFSR, and the Pechorsky District was established. During the Soviet period, bilingual schooling continued, and in 1956, Pechory Secondary School No. 2 was opened for Estonian-speaking students. In 1976, the town's boundaries were