Aknīste (; ; ) is a town in

Jēkabpils Municipality Jēkabpils Municipality () is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Ābeļi Parish, Dignāja Parish, Dunava Parish, Kalna Parish, Leimaņi Parish, Rubene Parish and Zasa Parish. During the Adm ...

in the

Selonia Selonia (; ), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia () as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuania. Its main city and cultural ce ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, situated near the

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n border. The town is located near the river

Dienvidsusēja The Dienvidsusēja (also known as ''Susēja'' or ''Suseja''; ) is a river of Latvia and a right tributary of the river Mēmele. It flows for 114 kilometres. For 4.2 km, the river forms the border between Latvia and Lithuania. The river flo ...

. Prior to the 2009 administrative reforms, it was part of

Jēkabpils district Jēkabpils district () was an administrative division of Latvia, located in Latgale region, in the country's east. It was organized into three cities and twenty one parishes, each with a local government authority. The main city in the district w ...

History

The town name, ''Aknīste'', was first mentioned in 1298. From the 17th century, the settlement was a panhandle of

, and after the partitions of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, it became a part of the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. During 1918, it was part of

, but in 1921, Lithuania exchanged Aknīste for

Palanga Palanga (; ; ) is a resort town, resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has sand, sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 10 ...

. The settlement was the site of a

mass killing Mass killing is a concept which has been proposed by genocide scholars who wish to define incidents of non-combat killing which are perpetrated by a government or a state. A mass killing is commonly defined as the killing of group members without ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

residents, during the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation of the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

.Akniste Killings and Graves
at Rumbula.org After German occupation forces arrived in Aknīste around the 25th of June, they created defence groups ('' Schutzmänner'') mainly composed of Latvians. The Aknīste group was commanded by the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

veteran J. Valdmanis, who had fought against

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

forces as a partisan during the war. On the 17th (or the 4th depending on the source) of July 1941, local Jews were rounded up into the hotel "Austrija", with O. Baltmanis, the commander of the

Ilūkste Ilūkste (; ; ) is a town in Augšdaugava Municipality in the Selonia region of Latvia. The population in 2020 was 2,216. History The territory of modern Ilūkste was inhabited by the Selonians, an ancient Baltic peoples, Baltic tribe. As a set ...

region SS einsatzgruppe, an unknown SS oberleutnant, and two SS soldiers present, under the premises that the Jews were to be transported to the Daugavpils ghetto. On the 18th of July, under the orders of O. Baltmanis, and disobeying of said order by J. Valdmanis, the Jews were executed in the yard of the hotel by Baltmanis' Schutzmänner gathered from other parts of Ilūkste.Destruction of the jews in Aknīste
at academia.edu In 1991, Aknīste was granted its town status.

Gallery

File:Akniste14.JPG, Aknīste catholic church. Built in the 1930s File:Akniste25.JPG, Aknīste town center File:Akniste7.JPG, Aknīste secondary school (Built in the 1930s) File:Akniste9.JPG, Aknīste local history museum

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akniste Cities and towns in Selonia Populated places established in 1991 Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd 1991 establishments in Latvia Jewish Latvian history Holocaust locations in Latvia Populated places in Jēkabpils Municipality

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links