Joniškis (; Samogitian: ''Juonėškis'') is a town in northern

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 ...

with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–

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 ...

border. Joniškis is the municipal and administrative centre of

Joniškis district municipality Joniškis (; Samogitian: ''Juonėškis'') is a town in northern Lithuania with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania– Latvia border. Joniškis is the municipal an ...

. With the Church of the Accession of the Holy Virgin Mary (founded in 1901) and a complex of two Jewish synagogues – The Red Synagogue (built in 1897) and The White Synagogue (built in 1823) – at its center, the town has the status of an urban architectural heritage site. A railway line connecting

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

and Šiauliai runs along the western boundary of the town. West of the railway are the town's allotment gardens, the Lutheran Cemetery and the Cemetery for the Victims of World War II. Joniškis has two water reservoirs formed by dams on the River Sidabra. Joniškis has the

Jonas Avyžius Public Library Jonas Avyžius Public Library of Joniškis District Municipality was founded in 1937 in Joniškis, Lithuania. Valentina Ivanovaitė became the first librarian. At the beginning the Library's collection consisted of 600 books placed in two rooms. ...

of Joniškis District Municipality, the Basketball Museum and a large animal compound feed manufacturing plant "Joniškio Grūdai".

Name

Joniškis is the

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

name of the town. Historical versions of the name in other languages include

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: ''Janiszki'', Russian: Янишки ''Yanishki'',

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

: יאַנישאָק ''Yanishok'', Latvian: ''Jānišķe'', and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Jonischken''.

History

Joniškis was established in the beginning of the 16th century. It was mentioned in written sources on 23 February 1536 when

Bishops of Vilnius Bishops of Vilnius (Vilna, Wilna, Wilno) diocese from 1388 and archdiocese ( archdiocese of Vilnius) from 1925:

and Samogitia visited the area and found that people still practiced the old pagan faith. People were worshiping the God of Thunder ( Perkūnas), fire, snakes and other pagan deities. The bishop of Vilnius,

John of the Lithuanian Dukes John of the Lithuanian Dukes (''Jan Ochstat de Thelnicz'', lt, Jonas iš Lietuvos kunigaikščių, pl, Jan z Książąt Litewskich; 8 January 1499 – 18 March 1538) was Bishop of Vilnius (1519–36) and of Bishop of Poznań (1536–38). He was t ...

baptized the locals and established a new parish on 23 February 1536. A wooden church was built and the town of Joniškis was built around it. The bishop of Vilnius named the town Joniškis after his own name Jonas. Joniškis was on the crossroad of important trade roads. In late 1941, 148 Jewish men were shot near Joniškis in the nearby forest. The remaining Jews (men, women and children) were murdered in the forest in September 1941. 493 people were murdered in total by an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...

of Joniškis policemen and Lithuanian nationalists supervised by the Germans.

Climate

Joniškis has a warm-summer humid continental climate (''Dfb'' in the Köppen climate classification).

Gallery

Independence Square in Joniškis with the Columns of Gediminas, Double Cross of the Jagiellonians and Vytis (Waikymas), 1929.jpg, Independence Square in 1929 with the Columns of Gediminas and the Jagiellonian Cross Joniškis, ženklas.JPG, Border mark Joniškis, savivaldybė.JPG, City municipality main building Joniškis, pėsčiųjų gatvė.JPG, Pedestrian street Joniskis abi sinagogos.JPG, Joniškis Synagogue Complex before reconstruction Joniškis, centras.JPG, Central street (former market square) Joniškis, centre.JPG, Reconstructed former market square Joniškis, Žagarės g.JPG, Old town Joniškis, kultūros centras.JPG, Joniškis Centre of Culture Joniškis, meno mokykla.JPG, Joniškis School of Arts Joniškis, krepšinio muziejus.JPG, Basketball museum

Notable people

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

* Maksimas Katche * Charles Segal *

Andrius Šležas Andrius Šležas (born February 4, 1975) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and basketball coach. During his playing career, he was best known as a 3-point specialist. Professional playing career Šležas was named the Lithua ...

Adomas Varnas Adomas Varnas (January 1, 1879 in Joniškis, Lithuania – July 19, 1979 in Chicago, United States) was a prominent Lithuanian painter, photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''grap ...

Benas Veikalas Benas Veikalas (born 24 September 1983) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. He can play both guard positions, but prefers the shooting guard position. Early career Born in Joniškis, Veikalas moved to the United States at the ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Joniškis is twinned with: *

Auce Auce (; lt, Aukė; german: Alt-Autz) is a town in southern Latvia, Dobele Municipality near the Lithuanian border. History Before 13th century the territory of Auce was a part of a Semigallian Spārnene county. After the partition of Semigal ...

, Latvia * Dobele, Latvia * Jelgava Municipality, Latvia * Konin, Poland *

Novoselitsky District Novoselitsky District (russian: Новосе́лицкий райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-six in Stavropol Krai, Russia.Resolution #63-p Municipally, it is incorporated as Novoselitsky Municipal District.La ...

, Ukraine *

Sulingen Sulingen is a town in the district of Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximatively 30 km east of Diepholz, and 45 km south of Bremen. Sister cities * Joniškis, Lithuania People from Sulingen * Walter Momper (born ...

, Germany *

Ungheni Ungheni () is a municipality in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a border checkpoint to Romania. There is another border t ...

, Moldova * Vimmerby, Sweden * Võru, Estonia

References

External links

Official siteThe murder of the Jews of Joniškis
during World War II, at Yad Vashem website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Joniskis Cities in Šiauliai County Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Duchy of Samogitia Shavelsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania Joniškis District Municipality