Wiżajny is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

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 ...

, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Lithuania. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called

Gmina Wiżajny __NOTOC__ Gmina Wiżajny, is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Suwałki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, on the Lithuanian border. Its seat is the village of Wiżajny, which lies approximately north of Suwałki ...

. It lies approximately north of

Suwałki Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...

and north of the regional capital Białystok. The village has a population of 1,000.

History

In the 6th-9th centuries this area has been inhabited by the Baltic tribe of

Yotvingians Yotvingians (also called: Sudovians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians; Yotvingian: ''Jotvingai''; lt, Jotvingiai, ; lv, Jātvingi; pl, Jaćwingowie, be, Яцвягі, ger, Sudauer) were a Western Baltic people who were closely tied to the Old Prus ...

. The first mention of the settlement comes from 1253 when it was recorded as "Weyze", which was most likely taken from the name of a nearby lake, which in turn was derived from the Lithuanian word ''vėžės'', or crawfish. In the 14th century there was an inn next to the road from

Vilkaviškis Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilka ...

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, Pojezi ...

. According to legend, in 1409

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithuania, which was established as an Absolute monarchy, absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three Duke, ducal D ...

and King of Poland

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...

hunted aurochs here and hence called the place Stumbrinė. In 1570 the place was granted town status, in 1606 it had 4 streets: Stara, Wierzbołowska, Siemiańska i Sejweńska. Around 1800 the town was granted the coat of arms and right to build the town hall. During the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

(

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 opposing ...

), the Germans arrested the local Polish parish priest in early November 1939 and imprisoned him in nearby

until November 11, 1939. He was arrested again in April 1940 in Mikaszówka and deported to the Soldau and

Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

concentration camps, where he died of exhaustion in June 1940 (see ''

Nazi crimes against the Polish nation Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, consisted of the murder of ...

''). The Germans also seized the local rectory and converted it into a customs office. In 1947–1961, the local parish priest was Kazimierz Równy, former prisoner of the Soldau, Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps.Guzewicz, p. 152-153

References

Villages in Suwałki County Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939) {{Suwałki-geo-stub