Linkuva (); is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in the
Pakruojis district municipality,
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 ...
.
It is located north-east of
Pakruojis.The town is more than 500 years old. Linkuva is a state-protected urbanistic monument. It is one of the oldest towns of Lithuanian
Semigalia. 7 streets are coming into the central square of Linkuva.
History
The lands were inhabited by a
Baltic tribe, the
Semigallians. Linkuva was first mentioned in 1371 in Livonian chronicles by
Hermann von Wartberge. Linkuva and its environs suffered from pillaging and attacks by the Livonian Order. The owner of Linkuva manor, Kotryna MykolienÄ—, built a church in 1500. Later it was taken over by
Calvinists.
In documents from 1605, a
continental Reformed church is mentioned. A parish school operated in the second part of the 16th century and in the beginning of the 19th century. In 1634, a
Carmelite monastery was established; it closed in 1832.
In the spring of 1918, Linkuva hosted one of the first demonstrations for Lithuanian independence, supporting the
Council of Lithuania. In 1919 the town was taken by
Bermontians, but Linkuva volunteers helped to regain it for Lithuania. In 1923, the gymnasium of Linkuva was established, which became well known in northern Lithuania. In 1937, a town library was established.
In 1940, after the occupation of Lithuania by the USSR, all the town's factories and stores were nationalized and
deportations started. On June 23, 1941, after
Nazi German
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
invasion and the Soviet withdrawal from Lithuania, hundreds of Jews escaping eastward from
Ĺ iauliai
Ĺ iauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...
and the neighboring towns found refuge in Linkuva and remained there. Most of the town's Jews were forcibly held in stables and warehouses, where they were brutally attacked. In the summer of 1941, 200 Jewish men were killed near the village of Dvariūkai. The victims came from Linkuva, along with Jewish refugees who had fled to the village.
Soviet occupants in 1940–41 and in 1944–53 deported 30 people from Linkuva. After the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the
Soviet Army stationed 150 soldiers in Linkuva to fight Lithuanian partisans. After the
Soviet occupation, around Linkuva
Lithuanian partisans of
PrisikÄ—limas military district were active.
Notable people
*
Vladas Garastas (g. 1932), basketball coach
*
Stasys TumÄ—nas (g. 1958), linguist, publisher
*
Zinas KazÄ—nas (g. 1936), journalist, photographer
References
External links
History of Linkuva (in Lithuanian)
Cities in Lithuania
Cities in Ĺ iauliai County
Ponevezhsky Uyezd
Holocaust locations in Lithuania
Pakruojis District Municipality
{{Ĺ iauliaiCounty-geo-stub