Joniškis (; Samogitian: ''Juonėškis'') is a town in northern Lithuania with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania– Latvia border. Joniškis is the municipal and administrative centre of Joniškis district municipality. With the Church of the Accession of the Holy Virgin Mary (founded in 1901) and a complex of two Jewish synagogues – The Red Synagogue (built in 1897) and The White Synagogue (built in 1823) – at its center, the town has the status of an urban architectural heritage site. A

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

connecting Riga and

runs along the western boundary of the town. West of the railway are the town's allotment gardens, the Lutheran Cemetery and the Cemetery for the Victims of World War II. Joniškis has two water

reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

formed by dams on the River Sidabra. Joniškis has the Jonas Avyžius Public Library of Joniškis District Municipality, the Basketball Museum and a large animal compound feed manufacturing plant "Joniškio Grūdai".

Name

Joniškis is the Lithuanian name of the town. Historical versions of the name in other languages include

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''Janiszki'',

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Янишки ''Yanishki'',

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

: יאַנישאָק ''Yanishok'', Latvian: ''Jānišķe'', and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Jonischken''.

History

Joniškis was established in the beginning of the 16th century. It was mentioned in written sources on 23 February 1536 when Bishops of Vilnius and

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

visited the area and found that people still practiced the old pagan faith. People were worshiping the God of Thunder (

Perkūnas Perkūnas ( lt, Perkūnas, lv, Pērkons, Old Prussian: ''Perkūns'', ''Perkunos'', Yotvingian: ''Parkuns'', Latgalian: ''Pārkiuņs'') was the common Baltic god of thunder, and the second most important deity in the Baltic pantheon after Di ...

), fire, snakes and other pagan deities. The bishop of Vilnius,

John of the Lithuanian Dukes John of the Lithuanian Dukes (''Jan Ochstat de Thelnicz'', lt, Jonas iš Lietuvos kunigaikščių, pl, Jan z Książąt Litewskich; 8 January 1499 – 18 March 1538) was Bishop of Vilnius (1519–36) and of Bishop of Poznań (1536–38). He was t ...

baptized the locals and established a new parish on 23 February 1536. A wooden church was built and the town of Joniškis was built around it. The bishop of Vilnius named the town Joniškis after his own name Jonas. Joniškis was on the crossroad of important trade roads. In late 1941, 148 Jewish men were shot near Joniškis in the nearby forest. The remaining Jews (men, women and children) were murdered in the forest in September 1941. 493 people were murdered in total by an Einsatzgruppen of Joniškis policemen and Lithuanian nationalists supervised by the Germans.

Climate

Joniškis 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 ...

(''Dfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Gallery

Independence Square in Joniškis with the Columns of Gediminas, Double Cross of the Jagiellonians and Vytis (Waikymas), 1929.jpg, Independence Square in 1929 with the

Columns of Gediminas The Columns of Gediminas or Pillars of Gediminas ( lt, Gediminaičių stulpai, ; be, Калюмны, translit=Kaliumny, 'Columns') are one of the earliest symbols of Lithuania and its historical coats of arms. They were used in the Grand Duchy of ...

and the Jagiellonian Cross Joniškis, ženklas.JPG, Border mark Joniškis, savivaldybė.JPG, City municipality main building Joniškis, pėsčiųjų gatvė.JPG, Pedestrian street Joniskis abi sinagogos.JPG, Joniškis Synagogue Complex before reconstruction Joniškis, centras.JPG, Central street (former market square) Joniškis, centre.JPG, Reconstructed former market square Joniškis, Žagarės g.JPG, Old town Joniškis, kultūros centras.JPG, Joniškis Centre of Culture Joniškis, meno mokykla.JPG, Joniškis School of Arts Joniškis, krepšinio muziejus.JPG,

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

museum

Notable people

* Laurence Harvey *

Maksimas Katche Maksimas Katche (german: Wilhelm Johannes Arwed Max Kattchée, russian: Макс Арведович Катхе, – 10 June 1933), was a Russian colonel and Lithuanian lieutenant general. In 1899, he graduated from an infantry school and serv ...

* Charles Segal * Andrius Šležas * Adomas Varnas * Benas Veikalas

Twin towns – sister cities

Joniškis is twinned with: * Auce, Latvia *

Dobele Dobele (; german: Doblen) is a town in the cultural region Zemgale in Latvia, and is located near the center of Latvia on the banks of the river Bērze. It received town rights in 1917 whilst being a part of the German occupied Courland Governor ...

, Latvia *

Jelgava Municipality Jelgava Local Municipality ( lv, Jelgavas novads) is a municipality in Zemgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Eleja parish, Glūda parish, Jaunsvirlauka parish, Lielplatone parish, Līvbērze parish, Platone parish, ...

, Latvia *

Konin Konin (german: Kunau) is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Prior to 1999, it was the capital of the Konin Voivodeship (1975–1998). In 2021 the p ...

, Poland * Novoselitsky District, Ukraine * Sulingen, Germany *

Ungheni Ungheni () is a municipality in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a border checkpoint to Romania. There is another border ...

, Moldova *

Vimmerby Vimmerby () is a city and the seat of Vimmerby Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 10,934 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Stångån is a small river running through the city. Vimmerby had its charter as early as the fourteenth century. The ...

, Sweden *

Võru Võru (; vro, Võro; german: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Cather ...

, Estonia

References

External links

Official siteThe murder of the Jews of Joniškis
during

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 ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Joniskis Cities in Šiauliai County Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Duchy of Samogitia Shavelsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania Joniškis District Municipality