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Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern
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 ...
, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilkauja River. Initially named ''Vilkaujiškis'', the name was later changed to an easier-to-pronounce form, ''Vilkaviškis''. Until 1941, the city had a large Jewish community, which was killed by the German military and their local collaborators. This is the city from which the 2016 cost-of-living Cauliflower Revolution originated. It is the capital of Vilkaviškis District Municipality, Vilkaviškis city eldership, and Šeimena eldership.


Names

The names of the city as it is called or was formerly called in other languages spoken by non-Lithuanian ethnic groups which have lived or live in or around the town include: ; ; . Other spelling variants include ''Vilkavishkis'' and ''Wilkowyszki''.Jewish Gen, ShtetLinks, "VILKOVISHK, Lithuania"
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History

The city was granted city rights in 1660 by 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 Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...
and Grand Duke of Lithuania, John II Casimir Vasa. The
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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
was granted by King Augustus II the Strong in 1697. It was most likely borrowed from the Pac family, as the owner of the village at the time, Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac, was also the Chancellor of Lithuania. During the Kościuszko Uprising, in 1794, it was the site of a battle between Polish insurgents and Prussian troops. It remained in 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 ...
until 1795 when, in the Third Partition of Poland, it was annexed by Prussia. In 1807, the city was incorporated into the short-lived Polish
Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...
. On 19–23 June 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in the city. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, the city became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland, as part of the Augustów Voivodeship, and later Suwałki Governorate. In 1856, the vast majority of the city's population was Jewish, with 4,417 Jews and 834 Christians. During the January Uprising, on October 30, 1863, it was the site of a skirmish between Polish insurgents and Russian troops. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the city was captured by German forces and held until 1918, when the place became part of independent Lithuania. An American-Lithuanian wrote of his observations when returning to the city in 1919: During the interwar period, a rail line was constructed running through nearby Marijampolė, which caused that town to become the regional centre, replacing Vilkaviškis in its traditional role. In 1926, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilkaviškis was established and its curia was located in the Vilkaviškis Manor. Since 1926, the Vilkaviškis Priest
Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
was operating in the city. Shortly after the outbreak of
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 control of the area fell to the Soviets, between 1940 and 1941, on the basis of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact. In 1941,
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
attacked the Soviet Union, invaded Lithuania, and occupied the city. Between June and September 1941, the Germans, along with Lithuanian collaborators, destroyed almost all the houses in the city and murdered more than 3,000 people, most of them Jews. Many of the males were shot on 28 July, and the women and children following on the Fast of Gedalia on 24 September. In March 1942, several Polish priests were imprisoned in the local seminary by the Germans, and then eventually deported to other camps in December 1942 (see '' Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland''). The city was the scene of a successful counter-attack by the German Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland in the autumn of 1944, and the aftermath of the fighting was the scene of several propaganda photographs in which the name of the city was prominently featured. The city was captured by the Red Army in August 1944. After the war, it was part of the Lithuanian SSR within the Soviet Union.Joseph Rosin, English edited by Sarah and Mordechai Kopfstein, "Vilkovishk (Vilkaviskis)"

/ref> When Lithuania regained its independence in 1991, the city became the capital of the newly established Vilkaviškis district municipality. The Vilkaviškis Priest Seminary was restored by the Bishop Juozas Žemaitis in 1999 and operated until 2005, when its clerics were transferred to the Kaunas Priest Seminary. In the late 20th century, the Curia of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilkaviškis was moved to Marijampolė. In 2020, Vilkaviškis won the Lithuania Village Flower Show, as voted by the board of Pakruojis Manor.https://welovelithuania.com/en/the-biggest-summer-event-in-pakruojis-manor/ Lithuania Village Flower Show


Notable people

The town and the surrounding district. * Aharon April (1932–2020), a distinguished Israeli artist and sculptor. * Jonas Basanavičius (1851–1927), an activist of the Lithuanian National Revival. * Sonia Gaskell (1904–1974), dancer and choreographer. * Leon Kamaiky (1864–1928), American newspaper owner and publisher. * Vincas Kudirka (1858–1899), author of the Lithuanian National Anthem (born in nearby ). * Marian Lalewicz (1876–1944), Polish architect. * Miriam Markel-Mosessohn (1839–1920), Hebrew writer and translator. * (1939–2017), the first female diver in the Soviet navy, trainer of military dolphins.


References


External links


Short history



The murder of the Jews of Vilkaviškis
during
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 ...
, at Yad Vashem website. ---- * Галина Александровна Шурепова {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilkaviskis Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Cities in Marijampolė County Cities in Lithuania Holocaust locations in Lithuania Vilkaviškis District Municipality