Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city 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 ...
with a population of 69,206 (2021).
It is the capital of
Suwałki County
__NOTOC__
Suwałki County ( pl, powiat suwalski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of ...
and one of the most important centers of
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
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 ...
. Suwałki is the largest city and the capital of the historical
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 ...
. Until 1999 it was the capital of
Suwałki Voivodeship
Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
. Suwałki is located about from the southwestern
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 and gives its name to the Polish
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
known as
Suwałki Landscape Park
Suwałki Landscape Park (''Suwalski Park Krajobrazowy'') is a protected area ( Landscape Park) in north-eastern Poland, established in 1976, covering an area of .
The area of the park is 6337.66 ha, of which approximately 60% is arable land, 10% ...
. The
Czarna Hańcza
The Czarna Hańcza, Chornaya Hancha (, ) is the largest river of the Suwałki Region of north-eastern Poland and the Sapockin region of north-western Belarus. It is known for having large postglacial boulders. Originating near Lake Hańcza (the ...
river flows through the city.
Etymology
The name derives from
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 ...
''su-'' (near) and ''valka'' (creek, marsh), with the combined meaning "place near a small river or swampy area".
History
![Cmentarzysko Jacwingow, Suwalszczyzna, Aug 2004 B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Cmentarzysko_Jacwingow%2C_Suwalszczyzna%2C_Aug_2004_B.jpg)
The area of Suwałki had been populated by local
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
Prussian
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 e ...
tribes since the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. However, with the arrival of the
Teutonic Order
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 ...
to
Yotvingia
Yotvingia or Sudovia (Yotvingian: ''Sūdava'', lt, Dainava, pl, Jaćwież, german: Sudauen, Eastern Slavic: Яцьвезь (Ятвязь, Етвязь), Ятвягия) was a region where the Baltic tribe known as Yotvingians lived. It was lo ...
, their lands were conquered and remained largely depopulated in the following centuries.
17th century
The village was founded by
Camaldolese monks, who in 1667 were granted the area surrounding the future town by the
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 ...
and the
King of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...
John II Casimir
John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...
. Soon afterwards the monastic order built its headquarters in
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 ...
, where a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
and a
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
were built.
The new owners of the area started rapid economic exploitation and development of the
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s; they brought enough settlers (mainly from overpopulated
Masovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...
) to build several new villages in the area. Also, production of wood,
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
,
tar
Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...
and
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
was started. The village was first mentioned in 1688; two years later it was reported to have just two houses.
18th century
![Resursa Obywatelska w Suwałkach by Adrian Piekarski 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Resursa_Obywatelska_w_Suwa%C5%82kach_by_Adrian_Piekarski_2012.JPG)
However, the growth of the village was fast and by 1700 it was split into Lesser and Greater Suwałki. The village was located almost exactly in the center of Camaldolese estates and lay on the main trade route linking
Grodno
Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
and
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 ...
with
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
.
In 1710 King
Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...
granted the village a privilege to organize fairs and markets. Five years later, in 1715, the village was granted
town rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
by the grand master of the order, Ildefons. The town was divided into 300 lots for future houses and its inhabitants were granted civil rights and exempted from taxes for seven years. In addition, the town was granted of forest that was to be turned into
arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...
. On May 2, 1720, the town rights were approved by King August II, and the town was allowed to organize one fair a week and four markets a year. In addition, a
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
was approved, depicting
Saint Roch
Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...
and
Saint Romuald
Romuald ( la, Romualdus; 951 – traditionally 19 June, c. 1025/27 AD) was the founder of the Camaldolese order and a major figure in the eleventh-century "Renaissance of eremitical asceticism".John Howe, "The Awesome Hermit: The Symbolic S ...
.
After the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
in 1795, the area 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 1796 the monastery in Wigry was dissolved and its property confiscated by the
Prussian
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 e ...
government. The following year a seat of local ''
powiat
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
'' authorities was moved to the town, as well as a military garrison. By the end of the 18th century, Suwałki had 1,184 inhabitants and 216 houses. A large part of the population was
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 ...
.
19th century
![Kościół par](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Ko%C5%9Bci%C3%B3%C5%82_par._p.w._%C5%9Bw._Aleksandra_5.jpg)
In 1807 Suwałki became a salient of the newly formed
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 ...
and one of the centres of the department of
Łomża
Łomża (), in English known as Lomza, is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship si ...
. After the defeat of
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, the area was incorporated into the
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 ...
("Russian Poland"). The status of a ''
powiat
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
'' capital was briefly withdrawn, but it was reintroduced on January 16, 1816, when the
Augustów Voivodeship
Augustów Voivodeship was created in 1816 from the Łomża Department. Its capital was in Łomża until 1818, when it was transferred to Suwałki. In 1837 it was transformed into Augustów Governorate. Administrative divisions
It was divided into 7 ...
was created and its government was gradually moved to Suwałki. Soon afterwards the older town hall was demolished and replaced with a new one, and General
Józef Zajączek
Prince Józef Zajączek (; 1 November 1752 – 28 August 1826) was a Polish general and politician.
Zajączek started his career in the Army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, an aide-de-camp to hetman Franciszek Ksawery Branicki. He w ...
financed the paving of most of the town's streets. The cemetery was moved to the outskirts from the town centre, and that area became a town park. Also, the Russian authorities built the
Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway
Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway (() (transliteration: Sankt-Peterburgo–Varshavskaya zheleznaya doroga)) is a long railway, built in the 19th century by the Russian Empire to connect Russia with Central Europe. At the time the entire railwa ...
, which added to the town's prosperity.
In 1820 a new church was built. In 1821 the first
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
was opened. In 1829 a permanent
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
was opened in Suwałki. Between 1806 and 1827 the town's population almost tripled and reached 3,753 people living in 357 houses. During the
November Uprising
The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution,
was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...
of 1831, the town's population took part in the struggles against Russia, but the town was pacified by the Russian army on February 11, 1830. In 1835 the government of
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
Nicholas I decided not to move the capital of the voivodeship to
Augustów
Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo'' or ''Augustowo'')" is a city in north-eastern Poland with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the ...
. Two years later the
Voivodeships of Poland
A voivodeship (; pl, województwo ; plural: ) is the highest-level administrative division of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term has been in use since the 14th century and is commonly translated into English as ...
were re-designated as
gubernia
A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empir ...
s, and the town became the capital of the
Augustów Gubernia
Augustów (; lt, Augustavas, formerly known in English as ''Augustovo'' or ''Augustowo'')" is a city in north-eastern Poland with 29,729 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the ...
.
In 1826 the Russians passed an investment plan and authorities initiated the construction of new public buildings. In 1835 a
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
station was built, in 1844 a new town hall and Orthodox and
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
churches were completed. Soon afterwards a new marketplace was opened, as well as St. Peter's and Paul's hospital and a
gymnasium. In addition, between 1840 and 1849 the main
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
church was refurbished by many of Poland's most notable architects of the era, including
Piotr Aigner
Chrystian Piotr Aigner (1756 in Puławy, Poland – 9 February 1841 in Florence, Italy)
was a Polish architect and theoretician of architecture.
Life
Chrystian Piotr Aigner acquired extensive knowledge of architecture in the course of several jour ...
,
Antonio Corazzi
Antonio Corazzi (born 16 December 1792 in Livorno, died April 27 1877 in Florence) was an Italian architect working in Poland from 1819 to 1847, mainly in Neoclassical style.
Biography
Antonio Corazzi was the son of an impresario of the Aval ...
and
Enrico Marconi
Enrico Marconi, known in Poland as Henryk Marconi (7 January 1792 in Rome – 21 February 1863 in Warsaw), was an Italy, Italian-Poland, Polish architect who spent most of his life in Congress Poland.
Initially he was taught by his father Leander ...
. To change the town's architecture and break with its rural past, in 1847 the town council passed a decree banning the construction of new wooden houses.
![Ratusz miejski suwalki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Ratusz_miejski_suwalki.jpg)
The town's population continued to grow rapidly. In 1857 it had 11,273 inhabitants and in 1872 almost 20,000. Newly built factories needed workers and these were brought from workers recruited widely in Europe. The mixed Polish-Jewish-Lithuanian population was soon joined by people of almost all denominations that worshipped in 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. ...
.
Soon Suwałki became the fourth-most populous town in Congress Poland. After the
January Uprising
The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
of 1863, administration reform was passed to unify the Polish lands with Russia completely. In 1866 the ''
gubernia
A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empir ...
'' of Augustów was renamed to ''Suwałki Gubernia''. However, the route of the newly built Saint Petersburg-Warsaw railway bypassed Suwałki, adversely affecting its prosperity. It was not until the early 20th century that the establishment of a new Russian army
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
revived the economy. Also, a railway line linking Suwałki with
Grodno
Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...
was finally completed.
20th century to present
![Tadeusz Kosiuszki street](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Tadeusz_Kosiuszki_street.JPG)
After the spring of 1905, when the Russians were forced to accept a limited liberalization, the period of Polish cultural revival started. Although the
Polish language
Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...
was still banned from official use, new Polish schools were opened, as well as a Polish-language ''Tygodnik Suwalski'' weekly and a library. 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 ...
broke out, heavy fights for the area erupted. Finally in 1915, the Germans broke the Russian front and Suwałki was under German occupation. The town and surrounding areas were detached from the rest of the Polish lands and were directly administered by the German military commander of the
Ober-Ost Army. Severe laws imposed by the German military command and the tragic economic situation of the civilians led to the creation of various secret social organisations. Finally, in 1917, local branches of the
Polska Organizacja Wojskowa
The Polish Military Organisation, PMO ( pl, Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, POW) was a secret military organization which formed during World War I (1914-1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914; it adopted the name ''POW'' in Novem ...
were created.
After the collapse of the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
in November 1918, the local commander of the Ober-Ost signed an agreement with the Temporary Council of the Suwałki Region and ''de facto'' allowed for the region to be incorporated into Poland. However, the German army remained in the area and continued its economic exploitation. In February 1919 the local inhabitants took part in the first free elections to the 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 ...
, but soon afterwards the German commanders changed their mind. They expelled the Polish military units from the area and in May passed the territory to Lithuanian authority.
Independent Poland
By the end of July 1919, the
Paris Peace Conference granted the town to Poland. As the
newly-established border was disapproved of by the Polish government, it organised the
Sejny Uprising
The Sejny Uprising or Seinai Revolt ( pl, Powstanie sejneńskie, lt, Seinų sukilimas) refers to a Polish uprising against the Lithuanian authorities in August 1919 in the ethnically mixed area surrounding the town of Sejny ( lt, Seinai). When ...
on August 23, 1919. The
Polish-Lithuanian War erupted and for several days fights were fought for the control over Suwałki,
Sejny
Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...
and other towns in the area. The war ended on the insistence of the
Entente
Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements:
History
* Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...
in mid-September.
Negotiations took place in Suwałki in early October. During the
Polish-Bolshevik War, the town was captured by the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
s and, after the
Battle of Warsaw, it was again passed to the Lithuanians. It was retaken by the
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...
.
In the
interbellum
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 First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
period, Suwałki became an autonomous town within the
Białystok Voivodeship (1919-1939) Białystok Voivodeship may refer to the following administrative districts of Poland:
*Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939), as defined before World War II
*Białystok Voivodeship (1945–1975), as defined after World War II
*Białystok Voivodeship ...
. This resulted in another period of prosperity, with the town's population rising from 16,780 in 1921 to almost 25,000 in 1935. The main source of income shifted from agriculture to trade and commerce. Also, in 1931 the new
water works and a
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
were built. Also, Suwałki continued to serve as one of the biggest garrisons in Poland, with two regiments of the
Polish 29th Infantry Division and almost an entire Suwałki Cavalry Brigade stationed there. Beginning in 1928, Suwałki was established as the headquarters of one of the
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
s of the
Border Defence Corps
The Border Protection Corps ( pl, Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other b ...
.
Second World War
![Lata 40 Suwalki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Lata_40_Suwalki.jpg)
During the later stages of the
Polish Defensive War of 1939, the town was briefly captured by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
. However, on October 12 of the same year, the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
s withdrew and transferred the area to the Germans, in accordance with the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
, long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
, image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg
, image_width = 200
, caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...
. The city was renamed ''Sudauen'' and annexed directly into
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's 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 ...
. Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles as part of ''
Intelligenzaktion
The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders which was committed against the Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) early in the ...
'' in the fall of 1939 and spring of 1940. Arrested Poles were deported to a transit camp in
Działdowo
Działdowo (german: Soldau) (Old Prussian: Saldawa) is a town in northern Poland with 20,935 inhabitants as of December 2021, the capital of Działdowo County. As part of Masuria, it is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (since 1999), Dz ...
or murdered on the spot. Nazi German severe laws and terrorism led to the creation of several resistance organisations in response. Although most initially destroyed by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
, by 1942 the area had one of the strongest
ZWZ
Związek Walki Zbrojnej ( abbreviation: ''ZWZ''; Union of Armed Struggle;Thus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. also translated as ''Union for Armed Struggle'', ''Association of Armed Strug ...
and
AK networks. In the Szwajcaria district there are mass graves of members of the
Polish resistance movement murdered by the Germans on April 26, 1940 and April 1, 1944.
Despite the resistance, almost all of the town's once 7,000-strong Jewish community was deported and murdered, beginning in December 1939, when German troops brought the elderly, sick, and disabled into a nearby forest and machine-gunned them en masse. The Germans, with help from local collaborators, deported the community's surviving Jews to ghettos in other towns. Nearly all either perished there or were murdered in
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
. The occupying Germans also systematically destroyed all traces of Jewish history and culture in the town, demolishing synagogues and desecrating Suwałki's Jewish cemetery, where a memorial and wall of gravestone fragments stand today.
Also, in Suwałki's suburb of
Krzywólka, the Germans established a
POW camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...
for almost 120,000 Soviet
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
. On October 23, 1944, the town was captured by the forces of the Soviet
3rd Belarusian Front
The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War.
The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Fron ...
. The fights for the town and its environs lasted for several days and took the lives of almost 5,000 Soviet soldiers before they defeated the Germans. The anti-Soviet resistance of former
Armia Krajowa
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
members lasted in the forests surrounding the town until the early 1950s.
Suwałki did not suffer much damage during World War II, most of the historic buildings survived the war, and the damage to the city was estimated at only 5-10%, which was quickly rebuilt.
Polish People's Republic
The apparatus subordinate to the
Polish Committee of National Liberation
The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the lat ...
took power in Suwałki without major problems. Immediately after the city's liberation by units of the Red Army, on October 23, 1944, at 3:00 PM Stanisław Łapot, a member of the former Communist Party of Poland, one of the organizers of the Polish Workers' Party in Bialystok, came from Sejny to Suwałki, as well as the representative of the Provincial National Council in
Bialystok in the Suwałki District and his
Starosta
The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...
. He was accompanied by several officials previously organized in Sejny of poviat authorities with the deputy head of Edmund Przybylski, as well as Tadeusz Sobolewski - the president of the interim (hull) Poviat Council. On the same day, at Mickiewicz Square, supposedly spontaneously organized, so with the participation of new authorities and over five thousand inhabitants of the city, and then in the "Rusałka" cinema hall a meeting of representatives of the population with the envoys of the Polish Committee of National Rebirth. Actions aimed at organizing the Suwałki authorities were taken shortly after the liberation. The
Starosta
The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...
handed over the power in the city to the temporary mayor Tadeusz Sobolewski on October 24, 1944, who earlier in
Sejny
Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...
was a member of the City Council, City Board, and also the mayor. The commissariat of Suwałki was established. In turn, on November 7, a conference of representatives of provincial authorities with local authorities was held. As agreed, the first meeting of the Suwałki City Council took place the next day. On November 20, 1944, the board decided to locate its office in a private, Jewish building, partly abandoned, at 62/64 Kościuszki street (occupied by German offices during the war), as the town hall building was severely damaged. In December 1944, the City Board did not gather, and its functions were performed by President T. Sobolewski.
![Suwałki stare 1957 Kościuszki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Suwa%C5%82ki_stare_1957_Ko%C5%9Bciuszki.jpg)
The transitional state in the organization and functioning of the Suwałki authorities was properly completed in January 1945. Most probably then or at the beginning of February the staroste S. Łapot issued an oral but very important order to subordinate Suwałki to the administration of the poviat level. In this way, he deprived them of the status they had until September 1939, a city separated from the poviat municipal association. Over the next few years, this matter was dealt with by various authorities, from municipal to central. This controversial problem appeared on March 27, 1945, on the initiative of the mayor Tadeusz Sobolewski, at the third meeting of the City National Council. The governor Wacław Kraśko, who was present at it, was rather reluctant to propose separating the city from the poviat and pointed to the need to improve, first and foremost, the situation and condition of municipal enterprises. The Council decided to postpone the case.
Another politician calling for restoring Suwałki to restore legal status before September 1, 1939 was mayor Wacław Rudzki. At the Municipal National Council meeting on March 25, 1946, he submitted the first motion to separate the city from the poviat, which was motivated by prestigious, historical and financial considerations. The Council shared the submitted arguments and decided, through the Poviat National Council, to apply to the Voivodeship National Council in Bialystok with a request to include the city separated from poviat self-government associations. Much more radical decisions, undoubtedly also under the influence of W. Rudzki, MRN made at its meeting on May 27, 1946. She decided that the rescript of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of December 1919 about the separation of Suwałki from the poviat remains in force, therefore she is the council of the separated city and reports to the Provincial National Council in Bialystok. The Council also elected, without discussion and by acclamation, the incumbent mayor of the city, mayor W. Rudzki. After this revolt, the reaction of the superior authorities was swift. Already in mid-June 1946, the voivode demanded that the chairman of the Suwałki Poviat Department (staroste) suspend the implementation of the Municipal National Council resolutions of 27 May, while informing that in the matter of restoring Suwałki's rights as a separate city, he turned to the Ministry of Public Administration. And indeed the voivode, writing favorably about Suwałki, their development and the achievements of the authorities, mainly W. Rudzki, asked the ministry for guidelines and a suggestion of a positive resolution of the case, although the relevant regulations did not allow it, mainly because the number of inhabitants of the city did not reach 25,000 After the lapse of the month, Rudzki not only did not become president, but also resigned from the position of mayor. Nevertheless, on July 25, 1946, the MRN decided to send a delegation of councilors composed of Leon Bracławski, Józef Wiszniewski and Antoni Zalewski to the Ministry of the Interior to support current activities and accelerate the restoration of Suwałki's rights of a separated city.
Martial law
During the martial law period and rise of Solidarność in the early 1980s, Solidarność demanded that the buildings of the Polish United Workers' Party and the Citizens' Militia be handed over to be used for social infrastructure, primarily schools, kindergartens and hospitals. This position was taken by the Inter-Enterprise Founding Committee of the Solidarity Independent Trade Union in Giżycko and Suwałki in regards to the party complex in 83 Noniewicza street. The first round of talks on this matter with representatives of authorities (including central authorities) took place on January 28, 1981. Solidarność emphasized the that the newly built buildings could be turned into medical clinics, a community center for youth and a music school. It strengthened its position with over 18 thousand signatures from the inhabitants of the region. No agreement was reached, because the authorities did not want to hand over the building.
Before the next round of talks on the night of February 14–15, under the cover of the Citizens' Militia and Security Service, the PZPR KW was moved to new buildings. This action caused widespread indignation in the whole province, not only among the members of Solidarity.
After the war, Suwałki was retained as the capital of the ''
powiat
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
''. However, the heavily damaged town recovered very slowly, and the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
economic system could not support the reinvestment needed. In 1975 new administrative reform was passed; Suwałki was designated as the capital of a separate
Suwałki Voivodeship
Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
. The number of inhabitants rose rapidly, and by the end of the 1970s, the population was over 36,000. Large factories were built in the town, and it became one of the important industrial and commercial centres of Eastern Poland.
Following the
end of Communist rule in 1989, Suwałki had a difficult period in transitioning to a new economic system. Most of the town's major factories were inefficient and went bankrupt. Creation of the Suwałki
Special Economic Zone
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
and the proximity of the Russian and Lithuanian borders opened new possibilities for local trade and commerce. In addition, the region began to attract many tourists from all around the world. In the 21st century, residents of Suwałki frequently travel across the Russian and Lithuanian borders for shopping trips as well as to make use of the various attractions both countries offer.
According to the 2002 census, the city had a Lithuanian community of 326 people.
To the
military planners of NATO, an area of the
Lithuania–Poland border
The Lithuania–Poland border is the state border between the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland. The length of the border is .. Page gives Polish PWN Encyklopedia as reference. It runs from the Lithuania–Poland–Russia tripo ...
area is known as the
Suwałki Gap
The Suwałki Gap, also known as the Suwałki corridor or ; lt, Suvalkų koridorius or ''Suvalkų tarpas''; be, сувалкскі калідор, suvalkskі kalidor and russian: сувалкский коридор, suvalkskiy koridor (), ...
because it represents a military difficulty. It is a flat narrow piece of land, a
gap, that is between
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
and Russia's
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
exclave and that connects the three NATO-member
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, ...
to Poland and the rest of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
Demographics
Climate
Suwałki has a climate that is characterised by changeable weather patterns. The city has a
warm-summer humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Dfb'') and, relatively to the rest of Poland, the city's climate has markedly continental characteristics even though there is some moderation from the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
.
Suwałki has among the greatest record temperature amplitudes in Poland: the lowest temperature was recorded on 12 January 1950 (), while the highest was , on 11 July 1946. It also holds the record for the highest atmospheric pressure ever registered in the country, at on 23 January 1907.
The weather changes are common due to the fact that, like in the rest of Poland,
weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For in ...
s generated by
low-pressure area
In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...
s come along frequently.
Due to its northerly location and the relatively little moderation of the Baltic, the
growing season
A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Whil ...
around the city is the shortest in Poland; according to the data from 1995-2019, the period of sustained average daily temperatures exceeding was only 200 days long, about 20-30 days shorter than in central and southern Poland.
Suwałki is often called the "Polish pole of cold" (''polski biegun zimna'') because it has the lowest average temperature of the major cities in Poland, excepting mountainous areas (the actual "pole of cold" is located about north of the city, in the village of
Wiżajny
Wiżajny is a village in Suwałki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Lithuania. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wiżajny. It lies approximately north of Suwałki ...
).
Winters are just cold enough, if the isotherm is accepted, not to be classified as oceanic (Köppen: ''Cfb''). The skies are often overcast and snow is frequent in the season, but there is much less precipitation in the winter months than in the sunnier summer months.
Nights with temperatures below sometimes occur, and temperatures below are not unheard of. According to the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW), the snow stays there for the longest time in non-mountainous areas of Poland.
The city is so cold that before 2015, Suwałki was only one of the four cities in Poland to have experienced winter conditions in every period from December to February (defined as the daily mean temperature of the month going below ); the extremely anomalous winter of 2019/2020 was the first in which Suwałki did not experience such conditions.
Summers are pleasant, warm and often sunny, with the maximum daily temperatures sometimes exceeding ,
though the season is still somewhat cooler in the city, as compared to the rest of Poland.
Tourist attractions
![Dwenickiego 17 Suwałki Plaza by Adrian Piekarski (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Dwenickiego_17_Suwa%C5%82ki_Plaza_by_Adrian_Piekarski_%282%29.JPG)
*
Kościuszko street with classicist architecture
*Romantic 19th-century park
*St. Alexander's Church
*St. Peter's and Paul's Church
*Chłodna Street
pedestrian zone
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
*District Museum at the former ''Resursa'' (trading point)
*Town Hall (''Ratusz'')
*Former gymnasium building
*Museum of Polish poet
Maria Konopnicka
Maria Konopnicka (; ; 23 May 1842 – 8 October 1910) was a Polish poet, novelist, children's writer, translator, journalist, critic, and activist for women's rights and for Polish independence. She used pseudonyms, including ''Jan Sawa''. She ...
at her childhood home
*Monument to
Maria Konopnicka
Maria Konopnicka (; ; 23 May 1842 – 8 October 1910) was a Polish poet, novelist, children's writer, translator, journalist, critic, and activist for women's rights and for Polish independence. She used pseudonyms, including ''Jan Sawa''. She ...
*
Andrzej Strumiłło
Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew.
Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej
* Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer
* Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and m ...
Gallery
*19th century brewery of
Wacław Kunc
*Childhood home of Polish painter
Alfred Kowalski
Alfred Jan Maksymilian Kowalski (Alfred ''Wierusz''-Kowalski; 11 October 184916 February 1915) was a Polish painter and representative of the Munich School.
Life
He was born on 11 October 1849 in Suwałki to father Teofil Kowalski of the Wieruszo ...
*Cemetery complex on Bakałarzewska street (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim)
*Suwałki Plaza, a shopping mall and cinema complex that opened in 2010. The mall contains stores with various products such as groceries, books, clothing, shoes and accessories.
Education
*Wyższa Szkoła Służby Społecznej im. Ks. Franciszka Blachnickiego
*Wyższa Szkoła Suwalsko-Mazurska im. Papieża Jana Pawła II
*Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Suwałkach
Sport
![Municipal Stadium, Suwałki (by Pudelek) 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Municipal_Stadium%2C_Suwa%C5%82ki_%28by_Pudelek%29_01.jpg)
The volleyball team
Ślepsk Suwałki is based in Suwałki. It plays in the
PlusLiga
The PlusLiga is the highest level of men's volleyball in Poland, a professional league competition featuring volleyball clubs located in this country. It is overseen by Polska Liga Siatkówki SA (PLS SA). It is currently a 16 teams league from Oc ...
, Poland's top division. The
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club
Wigry Suwałki
Wigry Suwałki is a Polish football club based in Suwałki, Podlaskie Voivodeship. In the 2022–23 season, they will compete in IV liga, having withdrawn from II liga
II liga (Druga Liga, ), currently named eWinner II liga due to sponsorsh ...
is based in the town. They currently play in the
IV liga
IV may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
*Immigration Voice, an activist organization
*Industrievereinigung, Federation of Austrian Industry
*Intellectual Ventures, a privately held intellectual property company
*InterVarsity Christian Fellow ...
, the fifth tier of the Polish football league system. They dropped from
II liga
II liga (Druga Liga, ), currently named eWinner II liga due to sponsorship reasons by eWinner, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season ''II Liga'' referr ...
in 2022 for financial reasons.
Notable people
![Andrzej Wajda OFF Plus Camera 2012(2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Andrzej_Wajda_OFF_Plus_Camera_2012%282%29.jpg)
Over the centuries Suwałki has produced a number of persons who have provided unique contributions to the fields of science, language, politics, religion, sports, visual arts and performing arts. A list of recent notable persons includes, but is not limited to:
*
Maria Andrejczyk (born 1996), javelin thrower
*
Zalman Gradowski
Zalman Gradowski or Chaim Zalman Gradowski (1910 – 7 October 1944) originally from Suwałki, was a Polish Jewish prisoner of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during the Holocaust in occupied Poland. On November 2, 1942, he was dep ...
(1910–1944), secret diarist at
Auschwitz-Birkenau
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
*
Maria Konopnicka
Maria Konopnicka (; ; 23 May 1842 – 8 October 1910) was a Polish poet, novelist, children's writer, translator, journalist, critic, and activist for women's rights and for Polish independence. She used pseudonyms, including ''Jan Sawa''. She ...
(1842–1910), poet and novelist, author of the poem ''
Rota''
*
Alfred Kowalski
Alfred Jan Maksymilian Kowalski (Alfred ''Wierusz''-Kowalski; 11 October 184916 February 1915) was a Polish painter and representative of the Munich School.
Life
He was born on 11 October 1849 in Suwałki to father Teofil Kowalski of the Wieruszo ...
(1849–1915), painter
*
Henryk Minkiewicz
Henryk Minkiewicz (19 January 1880 – 9 April 1940) was a Polish socialist politician and a general of the Polish Army. Former commander of the Border Defence Corps, he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre.; ; ; ; ; ;
L ...
(1880–1940), general, killed in the
Katyn Massacre
The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...
*
Avraham Stern
Avraham Stern ( he, אברהם שטרן, ''Avraham Shtern''), alias Yair ( he, יאיר; December 23, 1907 – February 12, 1942) was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway m ...
(1907–1942), Zionist paramilitary leader, codename 'Yair' founder of
Lehi
Lehi (; he, לח"י – לוחמי חרות ישראל ''Lohamei Herut Israel – Lehi'', "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel – Lehi"), often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang,"This group was known to its friends as LEHI and to its enemie ...
*
Edward Szczepanik
Edward Franciszek Szczepanik (; 22 August 1915 – 11 October 2005) was a Poles, Polish economist and the last Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile.
Biography
Szczepanik was born on 21 A ...
(1915–2005), economist and the last Polish
Prime Minister in Exile
*
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...
(1926–2016), film director and recipient of an
Honorary Oscar
The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...
*
Pinchas Sapir
Pinchas Sapir ( he, פנחס ספיר, born Pinchas Kozlowski 15 October 1906 – 12 August 1975) was an Israeli politician during the first three decades following the country's founding.
He held two important ministerial posts, Minister of Fin ...
(1906–1975),
Minister of Finance of Israel
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
Suwałki is
twinned with:
See also
*
Augustów Canal
be, Аўгустоўскі канал
, image = Bulwar w Augustowie.JPG
, image_caption = Augustów Canal in Augustów
, original_owner =
, engineer = Ignacy Prądzyński
, other_engineer = Jan Chrzciciel de Grandvill ...
*
Lithuania–Poland border
The Lithuania–Poland border is the state border between the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland. The length of the border is .. Page gives Polish PWN Encyklopedia as reference. It runs from the Lithuania–Poland–Russia tripo ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
*
Suwalki Town WebpageKurier SuwalskiLocal media Suwałki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suwalki
Cities and towns in Podlaskie Voivodeship
City counties of Poland
17th-century establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Populated places established in the 17th century
Trakai Voivodeship
Suwałki Governorate
Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Holocaust locations in Poland