Šakiai

Šakiai
City
Aerial view of Šakiai, featuring the town hall
Flag Coat of arms Brandmark
Šakiai Location of Šakiai
Coordinates: 54°57′N 23°3′E
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Suvalkija
County	Marijampolė County
Municipality	Šakiai district municipality
Eldership	Šakiai eldership
Capital of	Šakiai district municipality Šakiai eldership
First mentioned	1599
Granted city rights	1776
Government
• Mayor	Edgaras Pilypaitis (TS‑LKD)
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,998
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Šakiai (pronunciation^ⓘ) is a city in the Marijampolė County, Lithuania.[1] It is located 65 km (40 mi) west of Kaunas.

History

It is presumed that Šakiai first expanded from Šakaičai village, which was first mentioned in 1599.[1] In 1719 Šakaičiai was renamed to Šakiai and in the same year a church was built.[1] By the 19th century Šakiai already had city rights (since 1812); it also had a school, Catholic and Lutheran churches, a synagogue, and a post office.[1] In 1890–1894 Vincas Kudirka, the author of Tautiška giesmė, lived in Šakiai.[1]

During World War II, the town was under Soviet occupation from 1940, and then under German occupation from 1941 to 1944.[1] The city was damaged by the bombardment of Soviet Air Forces, while the Nazi German Army has exploded many masonry buildings (only 70 homes out of 328 remained).[1] Several massacres of Jewish people are alleged to have taken place in Šakiai in World War II, from July to September 1941. The killings are alleged to have committed by an Einsatzgruppen of German SS troops. The involvement of a small number of Lithuanians is also alleged.[2]

Gallery

• 
  Town hall of Šakiai
• 
  Church of John the Baptist
• 
  Šakiai Evangelical Lutheran Church
• 
  Bust of Vincas Kudirka in Šakiai
• 
  Court
• 
  Šakiai Eldership
• 
  Carillon

Notable residents

• Isaac Leib Goldberg, Zionist philanthropist (1860–)[3]
• Zygmunt Kęstowicz (1921–2007), Polish actor
• Gvidonas Markevičius (born 1969), basketball player
• Dainius Adomaitis (born 1974), basketball player and coach

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania

Šakiai is twinned with:

• Gołdap, Poland

References

1. Miškinis, Algimantas. "Šakiai". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 19 October 2024.
2. "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
3. Slutsky, Yehuda. "Sakiai". Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
   Anne Blejer, Hatte (2013-03-04). "Yitzchak Leib Goldberg". Geni. MyHeritage. Retrieved 2015-01-10.