Nemenčinė ( is a city in Vilnius district municipality,

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 ...

, it is located only about north-east of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. Close to Nemenčinė forest was planted which forms a sentence ''Žalgiris 600'' (commemorating the

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...

) visible from the air.

Names

''Nemenčinė'' is the original name of the city reflected in historical documents and still in use today. It derives from a Lithuanian word referring to the river Nemenčia.A. Vanagas. Lietuvos miestų vardai. p.151-152 Other versions of the name include ''Niemenczyn'' in

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 ...

, ''Неменчын'' in

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

, Неменчине (or Нямянчине) in Russian, ''Nementschine'' in

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 ...

and ''Nementchin'' (נעמענטשין) in

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 ...

History

Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio

Lithuanian wooden castle and the mound stood in Nemenčinė in 10-14th centuries. The settlement started to grow around the castle. In 1387, following the Christianization of Lithuania, Jogaila established the first Christian

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in Nemenčinė and built a church there. In a 1434 document Andrius Sakaitis, one of the most influential Lithuanian nobleman families during the reign of

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

Casimir IV Jagiellon, listed Nemenčinė as his domain. In 1554, Nemenčinė after the

Volok Reform Volok may refer to: * Volok (unit), a unit of land measurement * Volok Reform, land reform in the 16th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania People with the surname * Bill Volok (1910–1991), American football player * Ilia Volok (born 1965), Russian ...

got the rights of the town. In 1613, the town was marked on the map of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

– ''Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio'' printed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and financed by the Lithuanian magnate Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila Našlaitėlis. On 20 September 1941, 403 Jews from the town were massacred in a mass execution. 128 men, 186 women and 99 children were shot 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 local Nazi collaborators. In 1971, a monument was erected on the execution site.

Ethnic composition

The ethnic composition of Nemenčinė is as follows: Total population in 2011 – 5054 *

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

56,5% (2858) *

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...

27,1% (1368) *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

9,2% (463) *

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

3,6% (183) *

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

0,9% (43) * Others 2,4% (120) Total population in 2021 – 4831 *

55,7% (2690) *

29,1% (1407) *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

8,1% (391) *

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

2,9% (138) *

0,8% (38) * Others 3,3% (160)

International partnership

Nemenčinė is twinned with three towns in Poland:

Węgorzewo Węgorzewo (until 1946 pl, Węgobork; german: Angerburg, lt, Ungura) is a tourist town on the Angrapa River in northeastern Poland, within the historical region of Masuria. It is the seat of Węgorzewo County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeshi ...

(Ungura), Ełk (Lukas) and Suwałki (Suvalkai). It also has a partnership agreement with Poland's

West Pomeranian Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was i ...

, signed in

on 19 June 2009.

Sports

In 14 of September 2017 Nemenčinė Biathlon Stadium was opened and become a second operating Biathlon course in Lithuania (first being Ignalina Winter Sports Centre).Atidaryta biatlono šaudykla ir rekonstruotas Nemenčinės stadionas
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People

Zdzisław Balicki Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic male given name Places * Zdzisław, Lubusz Voivodeship, a village in Poland * Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic mal ...

, Polish

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

deputy *

Miroslava Ritskiavitchius Miroslava Ritskiavitchius ( lt, Miroslava Trainovskaja-Rickevičienė; born 23 February 1964) is a German handball player. She competed in the women's tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games o ...

, Lithuanian handball player that represented Germany at 1996 Olympics

References

External links

Virtual Tour of Nemenčinė
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemencine Cities in Lithuania Cities in Vilnius County Vilensky Uyezd Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939) Holocaust locations in Lithuania Vilnius District Municipality