Saldutiškis is a small town in northeastern

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 ...

. According to the Lithuanian census of 2021, it had 261 residents. Its alternate names include Syłgudyszki (

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

), Saldutishkis, Trunkuny, and Saldatiškio.

History

The village was first mentioned in the late 18th century, when the property and manor of the Jaloveckis (Jałowiecki) family were recorded. Two of its most famous members were General Boleslovas Jaloveckis (August 10, 1846 - July 10, 1918) and his son

Mieczysław Mieczysław () or Mečislovas (Lithuanian) is a Slavic name of Polish origin. Feminine form: Mieczysława. This name may refer to: People Mečislovas * Mečislovas Birmanas (1900–1950), Lithuanian chess player * Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestra ...

(December 2, 1876– March 10, 1962), a diplomat for the interwar Polish government of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

and a known

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

. Bolesław established a park, rich in tree variety. The settlement began to grow after a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway between

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

and

Švenčionėliai Švenčionėliai () is a city in Švenčionys district municipality, in eastern Lithuania 10 km west of Švenčionys. The river Žeimena flows through Švenčionėliai. History On 10 July 1920, it was the site of a battle of the Polish– ...

was built in 1899. Its train station was built in the traditional

Zakopane Style of Architecture Zakopane Style (or Witkiewicz Style) is an art style, most visible in architecture, but also found in furniture and related objects, inspired by the regional art of Poland's highland regions, most notably Podhale. Drawing on the motifs and tradi ...

. The Panevėžys-Saldutiškis railway was the object of the 1938–1939 ''Panevėžys-Saldutiškis Railway Case'' of the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

between

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and Lithuania. During World War I, the manor was abandoned and looted. In the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw far-reaching and wide-ranging cultural, economic, and social change across Europe, Asia, Africa, and in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were a ...

, the village became part of the independent

n state. In the independent

, Jałowiecki family was unable to regain their estates, and Mieczysław settled in Poland. In the 1920s the former Jałowiecki's manor was converted into administrative offices and a primary school while the former barn was converted into a parish church. According to the 1923 census, there were 79 residents in Saldutiškis. As the settlement grew, an agricultural school and foresters office was moved into the town. A sawmill provided electricity for the town and surrounding settlements. On July 3 and August 4, 1941, German

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

and Lithuanian collaborators executed the Jews from Saldutiškis. The remaining Jews from the city were shot at the military training grounds in Švenčionėliai. After World War II, several collective farms (''

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

y'') were established and primary school was converted into secondary. Saldutiškis had 309 residents in 1957, 388 in 1970, and 434 in 1979. On July 30, 2002, the

President of Lithuania The president of the Republic of Lithuania () is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commande ...

confirmed the coat of arms of the town. The arms depict a silver deer with two pine branches with golden cones instead of antlers. These are symbols of the nearby Labanoras Forest, the largest forest in Lithuania.

References

External links

*
Photo of the old train station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saldutiskis Towns in Utena County Towns in Lithuania Sventsyansky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania