Aknīste (; lt, Aknysta; pl, Oknista) is a town in

Jēkabpils Municipality Jēkabpils Municipality ( lv, Jēkabpils novads) is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Ābeļi Parish, Dignāja Parish, Dunava Parish, Kalna Parish, Leimaņi Parish, Rubene Parish and Zasa Parish. Dur ...

in the

Selonia Selonia ( lv, Sēlija; lt, Sėla), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia ( lv, Zemgale) as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuania ...

region of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, near the

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n border. The town is located near the river

Dienvidsusēja Dienvidsusēja (also known as ''Susēja'' or ''Suseja''; lt, Susėja) is a river of Latvia and a right tributary of the river Mēmele. It flows for 114 kilometres. For 4.2 km river forms border between Latvia and Lithuania. River flows t ...

. Prior to the 2009 administrative reforms it was part of

Jēkabpils District Jēkabpils district ( lv, Jēkabpils rajons) was an administrative division of Latvia, located in Latgale region, in the country's east. It was organized into three cities and twenty one parishes, each with a local government authority. The main ...

History

The town name, ''Aknīste'', was first mentioned in 1298. From the 17th century the settlement was a panhandle of

and after the partitions of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

part of the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was formed ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Since 1918, part of

, but in the 1921, Lithuania exchanged Aknīste for

Palanga Palanga (; bat-smg, Palonga; pl, Połąga; german: Polangen) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long ...

. The settlement was the site of a

mass killing Mass killing is a concept which has been proposed by genocide scholars who wish to define incidents of non-combat killing which are perpetrated by a government or a state. A mass killing is commonly defined as the killing of group members without ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

residents, during the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

.Akniste Killings and Graves
at Rumbula.org After German occupation forces arrived in Aknīste around the 25th of June, they created defence groups ('' Schutzmänner'') mainly composed of Latvians. The Aknīste group was commanded by Latvian War of Independence veteran J. Valdmanis who had fought against bolshevik forces as a partisan during the war. On the 17th (or the 4th depending on the source) of July, 1941, local Jews were rounded up into hotel "Austrija", with O. Baltmanis, the commander of the

Ilūkste Ilūkste (; lt, Alūksta, Ilūkšta; german: Illuxt) is a town in Augšdaugava Municipality in the Selonia region of Latvia. The population in 2020 was 2,216. History Territory of modern Ilūkste was inhabited by ancient baltic tribe- Selonian ...

region SS einsatzgruppe, an unknown SS oberleutnant, and two SS soldiers present, under the premises that the Jews were to be transported to the

Daugavpils ghetto Following the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941, the Daugavpils Ghetto (german: Ghetto Dünaburg) was established in an old fortress near Daugavpils. Daugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia, located on the Daugav ...

. On the 18th of July, under the orders of O. Baltmanis, and disobeying of said order by J. Valdmanis, the Jews were executed in the yard of the hotel by Baltmanis' Schutzmänner gathered from other parts of Ilūkste.Destruction of the jews in Aknīste
at academia.edu In 1991, Aknīste was granted the town status.

Gallery

File:Akniste14.JPG, Aknīste catholic church. Built in the 1930s File:Akniste25.JPG, Aknīste town center File:Akniste7.JPG, Aknīste secondary school (Built in the 1930s) File:Akniste9.JPG, Aknīste local history museum

References

External links

Towns in Latvia Populated places established in 1991 Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd 1991 establishments in Latvia Jewish Latvian history Holocaust locations in Latvia Jēkabpils Municipality Selonia {{Latvia-geo-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links