"Peres brought pride to our village through his life and accomplishments and we felt obliged to pay our respects," said Oleg Demidchik, 63.

"We are humbled that he was raised in our town and we will never forget this."

On the site of his family's former home, a plaque reads: "In this place, Shimon Peres, son of Yitzhak and Sarah Perski, the Nobel laureate and ninth president of the State of Israel, was born on August 2, 1923."

The locals learned of his death from Limmud FSU, which has been in constant contact with them since it held 90th birthday celebrations for Peres in Vishnyeva three years ago.

Chaim Chesler, founder of Limmud FSU, said: "We are greatly moved to see how deeply the people of Vishnyeva care for Peres and that they joined together in his memory. His legacy honours this town."