Puńsk ( lt, Punskas) is a village in the
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship or Podlasie Province ( pl, Województwo podlaskie, ) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. The name of the province and its territory correspond to the historic region of Podlachia. The capital and largest cit ...
in northeastern
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, seat of the
Gmina Puńsk
__NOTOC__
Gmina Puńsk ( lt, Punsko valsčius) is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. Its seat is the village of Puńsk, which lies approximately north- ...
in the
Sejny County. It is located only from the border with
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 ...
.
History
Early history
The oldest traces of humans in Puńsk territory date back to about 10 000 years BC.
Middle Ages
In the early medieval ages it was inhabited by the Baltic
Yotvingian
Sudovian (also known as Yotvingian, or Jatvingian) was a Western Baltic language of Northeastern Europe. Sudovian was closely related to Old Prussian. It was formerly spoken southwest of the Nemunas river in what is now Lithuania, east of Galindi ...
and
Sudovian peoples.
Lithuanian Crusade
In the 13th century, the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
mostly exterminated the local Balts with only few of them surviving. Nowadays only some castle hills (e.g. in
Šiurpilis), mounds (e.g. in
Eglinė), cemeteries (e.g. in
Szwajcaria), village names (e.g.
Zervynai, Krosna) and archaeological excavations remind us about their existence. Later on the
Suwałki Region
Suwałki Region ( pl, Suwalszczyzna ; lt, Suvalkų kraštas, Suvalkija, russian: cувалкщина, german: Sudauen) is a small region around the city of Suwałki (known in Lithuanian as ''Suvalkai'') in northeastern Poland near the border wit ...
became overgrown with forests.
Lithuanian Grand Dukes hunted there. In the early 15th century the people from
Merkinė
Merkinė is a town in the Dzūkija National Park in Lithuania, located at the confluence of the Merkys, Stangė, and Neman (river), Nemunas rivers. Merkinė is one of the oldest settlements in Lithuania. The first settlers inhabited the confluence ...
and
Punia Punia can refer to:
* ''Punia'' (cicada), a genus of cicadas
*Punia, Lithuania, a town in Lithuania
*Puniya Poonia or Punia is a clan (or gotra) of Jats.
Notable people who bear the surname and may or may not be associated with the clan include:
...
started to colonize this territory again. The lake was named ''Punia'', from which the village derived its name. Initially, it might have been called ''Puniškės'' after Punia, which over time became Puńsk. It was one of the first settlements in this territory. At the same time the other ones were created, such as:
Beržininkai,
Seinai or
Kreivėnai.
Modern era
![Punsk July 2013 50](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Punsk_July_2013_50.JPG)
In 1597, the
Seivai forester, Stanisław Zaliwski built the church in Puńsk, and here was the parish established. Later on the
Lithuanian chancellery published the document of the king
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...
, which stated that Puńsk's parish priest can only be a
Lithuanian-speaking person.
In 1647, the king
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa; lt, Vladislovas Vaza; sv, Vladislav IV av Polen; rus, Владислав IV Ваза, r=Vladislav IV Vaza; la, Ladislaus IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV of Poland (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of ...
approved Puńsk's civic rights according to the
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...
and gave it a coat of arms with
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
’s image. At that time the parish of Puńsk belonged to the
Diocese of Vilnius
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius ( la, Archidioecesis Vilnensis; lt, Vilniaus arkivyskupija) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. Established as the Diocese of Vilnius in t ...
, and later (from 1795) to the bishopric of
Wigry
Wigry ( lt, Vygriai, Vingriai) is a lake located in north-eastern part of Poland, in Podlaskie Voivodeship.
Wigry lake is situated in the forests of the Augustów Wilderness – trees grow on about 80% of its shoreline. There are 19 smalle ...
. There was a school and a hospital by the church.
In 1795, there lived 583 people in Puńsk and in 1827 even more – 748.
![Punsk July 2013 32](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Punsk_July_2013_32.JPG)
Puńsk was annexed by
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
in the
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...
in 1795. In 1807 it became part of the short-lived Polish
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
, within which it was administratively located in the
Łomża Department
Łomża Department (Polish: ''Departament Łomzyński'') was an administrative division and local government in the Polish Duchy of Warsaw in the years 1807–15. The department comprised 10 counties and had its capital at Łomża.
From January ...
. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it became part of
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
, soon forcibly integrated into 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. ...
.
In 1827, Puńsk had 748 inhabitants. In 1852 Puńsk lost its civic rights. In 1881, there lived 1,200 people in the whole parish. Then the parish of Puńsk was divided into three separate units: in
Smolany,
Becejły and Puńsk. In 1910, there were 74 villages with 7,044 people that belonged to the parish of Puńsk.
People of Puńsk area suffered from the tsar’s repressions. There were secret schools. The forbidden,
illegal Lithuanian press and books were secretly transferred across the German-Russian border by the book smugglers (
knygnešiai
Lithuanian book smugglers or Lithuanian book carriers ( lt, knygnešys, plural: lt, knygnešiaĩ, label=none) transported Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ba ...
). Povilas Matulevičius was the most famous book smugglers in the region
Interwar period
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when both
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 ...
and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
regained independence, there were
fights between them over the
Suwałki Region
Suwałki Region ( pl, Suwalszczyzna ; lt, Suvalkų kraštas, Suvalkija, russian: cувалкщина, german: Sudauen) is a small region around the city of Suwałki (known in Lithuanian as ''Suvalkai'') in northeastern Poland near the border wit ...
. In April 1919 Puńsk and its territory became a part of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. The border has remained unchanged since the summer of 1920.
Similarly to the situation in other disputed areas, including the
Vilnius region
Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time.
The territory ...
, a referendum which would determine which country the inhabitants of Puńsk wanted to belong to was not held. Through 8 decades the language situation has changed to the advantage of
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 ...
.
As part of Poland, new local regulations were introduced by the government, and Lithuanians were repressed by them. During the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, there were several active societies, for example
St. Casimir's Society dealt with the matters of church,
Rytas maintained schools, and Talka was a co-operative society. The vast majority of commerce and business belonged to
Jews
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 ...
. They made up the greater part of Puńsk inhabitants at that time. Some extant old houses, the building of synagogue and a big cemetery nearby Puńsk remind of their former presence.
Anti-Semitism was rampant, and many of the Jewish residents fled Polish rule. One such family was Rafalin. David Rafalin, a graduate of the Slobodka Yeshiva, became a rabbi in Cuba in 1929, then in 1933, he moved to Mexico, where he was a rabbi for 46 years. In 1931, most of the Jewish section of Puńsk was destroyed by a fire.
World War II
![Punsk July 2013 43](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Punsk_July_2013_43.JPG)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Puńsk was
occupied by Germany, who incorporated it directly into the province of
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. The invaders started to introduce a new order. It was decided to make a clean sweep of undesirable people in the Suwałki Region. The unsuitable ones for
Germanisation
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
were killed and the favourable ones had been left to become assimilated. It was also decided to colonize this area and populate it with
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
in accordance with the ''
Lebensraum
(, ''living space'') is a German concept of settler colonialism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. First popularized around 1901, '' lso in:' became a geopolitical goal of Imperi ...
'' policy, and resettle many indigenous Lithuanians to Lithuania, which was then occupied by the Russians. According to the agreement between Germany and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
on 10 January 1941, about 70% of people were expelled from the territory. Most of them returned after the German occupation ended.
In Yad Vashem's Central Database of Shoah (Holocaust) Victims, more than six dozen Jewish inhabitants of Puńsk are listed as being murdered during World War II. Some were killed in the village itself, while others were deported to camps and
ghettos
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
in German-occupied Poland and neighboring Lithuania.
With the end of German occupation, the village was restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the
Fall of Communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
in the 1980s.
Contemporary history
![Dom kultury litewskiej w punsku 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dom_kultury_litewskiej_w_punsku_01.JPG)
After the war Lithuanian social and cultural life in this region became more active again. In 1956, there was established LVKD (The Social and Cultural Association of Lithuanians). Its task was to weld Lithuanians who were scattered not only in the Suwałki Region but all over Poland. Lithuanian schools and cultural centre were established. The ensembles of the Lithuanian Culture Centre in Puńsk perform in Poland and abroad. These are:
* choreographic ensemble Jotva (established in 1951),
* folk band Klumpė (1956),
* choir Dzūkija (1957)
* and barn theatre group.
The important role in propagation of national awareness is played by the Publishing House and its periodical ''Aušra''.
![Punsk July 2013 59](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Punsk_July_2013_59.JPG)
The
Puńsk
Puńsk ( lt, Punskas) is a village in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in northeastern Poland, seat of the Gmina Puńsk in the Sejny County. It is located only from the border with Lithuania.
History
Early history
The oldest traces of humans in Pu ...
impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters ...
on
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
was named after the village in 1976.
In 1993, LLB (Lithuanian Society in Poland) was established. One year later its offshoot - Lithuanian Youth Society was created. These organizations connect all of Lithuanians and represent their interests in and out of country.
In 1994,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
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 ...
signed an agreement about friendship and neighbourly cooperation. New possibilities have appeared in order to communicate with Poland.
Demographics
According to the census of 2011, it had a population of 1,336. Over 75% of the population of Puńsk is
Lithuanian.
With Lithuanian Culture House, Lithuanian high school and print house, Puńsk is the main centre of the
Lithuanian minority in Poland The Lithuanian minority in Poland consists of 8,000 people (according to the Polish census of 2011) living chiefly in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (mainly in Gmina Puńsk), in the north-eastern part of Poland. The Lithuanian embassy in Poland notes th ...
.
References
External links
Puńsk webpagePuńsk on the map, via www.pilot.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Punsk
Villages in Sejny County
Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Lithuanian diaspora in Europe