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 Pakruojis (; ) is a city in Lithuania. It is situated on the Kruoja River, which has a dam above the city. Forty three buildings of the manor, mentioned in 1531 still survive. History Pakruojis and it neighbourhood are within the boundaries of th ...

.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 Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic trib ...

. 7 streets are coming into the central square of Linkuva.

History

The lands were inhabited by a

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

tribe, the

Semigallians Semigallians (; ; also ''Zemgalians'', ''Semigalls'' or ''Semigalians'') were the Balts, Baltic tribe that lived in the south central part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) agai ...

. Linkuva was first mentioned in 1371 in Livonian chronicles by

Hermann von Wartberge Hermann von Wartberge (died ca. 1380) was a chronicler of the Livonian Order. Born in Westphalia, Wartberge was a Catholic priest and author of the valuable Latin chronicle ''Chronicon Livoniale'' covering the history of the Livonian Crusade from ...

. Linkuva and its environs suffered from pillaging and attacks by the Livonian Order. The owner of Linkuva manor, Kotryna Mykolienė, built a church in 1500. Later it was taken over by

Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

. In documents from 1605, a

continental Reformed church Continental Reformed Christianity or Continental Reformed Protestantism is a part of Reformed Christianity within Protestantism that traces its origin to continental Europe. Prominent subgroups are the Dutch Reformed, Swiss Reformed, French Hug ...

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 The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

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 the history of Lithuania, the Council of Lithuania (; ; ), after July 11, 1918, the State Council of Lithuania () was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between 18 and 23 September 1917. The twenty men who composed the c ...

. In 1919 the town was taken by

Bermontians The West Russian Volunteer Army or Bermontians was a pro-German White Russian military formation in Latvia and Lithuania during the Russian Civil War from November 1918 to December 1919. History The , unlike the pro- Entente Volunteer Army ...

, 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 Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

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

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) 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 The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

stationed 150 soldiers in Linkuva to fight Lithuanian partisans. After the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

, around Linkuva

Lithuanian partisans Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in E ...

Prisikėlimas military district The Prisikėlimas military district (Lithuanian: ''Prisikėlimo apygarda''; "Resurrection district") was a military district of Lithuanian partisans which were active from 1947 to 1969, and comprised the counties of Šiauliai, Joniškis, and partial ...

were active.

Notable people

Vladas Garastas Vladas Garastas (born February 2, 1932, in Linkuva) is a former Lithuanian professional basketball coach and the former president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. Coaching career Before retirement, he coached the Soviet Union national t ...

(g. 1932), basketball coach * Stasys Tumėnas (g. 1958), linguist, publisher * Zinas Kazėnas (g. 1936), journalist, photographer

References

External links

History of Linkuva (in Lithuanian)
Cities in Lithuania Cities in Šiauliai County Ponevezhsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania Pakruojis District Municipality {{ŠiauliaiCounty-geo-stub