inhabitants – History of Šiauliai

Šiauliai in the Darkness of Nazism

Šiaulių TIC — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 19:00:09 +0000

On June 23, 1941, the so-called uprising of June took place, which was used by the new authorities of the occupants’ troops, entering Lithuania three days later. The first Soviet occupation was short and not very successful, and German authorities, which again occupied the country, accomplished their aims fairly well. The Nazi policy in Lithuania was opposite to the Soviet one merely because they did not seek to change the institutions of the country, but only to use their activities to achieve their aims. Lithuanian administrations acted strictly under the control of local authorities of the Nazi: Šiauliai city municipality was controlled by Šiauliai district commissariat. Using these district commissariats and the general commissariat, the Nazis implemented their policy.

Before the Second World War, Jews in Šiauliai lived active political, professional and cultural life. They built synagogues, Jeshivas (spiritual study institutions) and other educational institutions, established trade unions, banks, hospitals, charitable organizations, and support institutions. Right before the war, there were about 6500-8000 Jews in Šiauliai.

The German Army, which arrived in Lithuania on June 26, 1941, first of all arranged to expel Soviet units from the state and quickly restore local administration and police. These bodies later began to systematically implement the aims of the new government. The city’s administration issued discriminatory statements against Jews one after another, and the police was begun to be consistently reformed into a paramilitary service. Initially, it was the secret military field police and later, the units of the German security police (the Gestapo) and of the security board of city departments, which became direct agents of the genocide policy. In the summer of 1941, on June 29, the first massacre of Šiauliai Jews took place in Kužiai forest, killing several thousand Jews and persons of other nationalities associated with communist activities. Later, in the autumn of the same year, another massacre was organized near Bubiai village and in Gubernija forest (Normančiai forest district), where the massacres were carried out by paramilitary police battalions under the supervision of German soldiers. In August, 1941, the transfer of Jews to both ghettos established in the city was completed. Ghetto inhabitants were forced to do compulsory work at Zokniai airport, in peatlands, plants, factories, etc. The emerging problems due to overcrowding in the ghetto were usually solved by German authorities by arranging a new arrest, which would end in massacres out of town. After the murderous period in 1941, the period till liquidation of ghettos was rather calm and its residents could slightly take breath. Self-governance with its administration and Jewish institutions taking care of order began to be formed in Šiauliai ghettos. In 1943, schools for children were established. However, at the end of 1943, one of the ghettos, named Kaukazas, all inhabitants of which were transferred to concentration camps, was liquidated, and in the middle of July of 1944, the same happened to another – Šiauliai – ghetto; its inhabitants were also transferred to German concentration camps. Only 350 to 500 Šiauliai Jews survived in these atrocities. It was a big blow to Šiauliai city, as the influence of the representatives of this nation on the city’s earlier development was undoubtedly significant (one of their representatives, Samuelis Petuchauskas, even worked as a deputy burgomaster of the city for many years); their traces in the flow of history are still reflected today in the memorial monuments capturing the past of Šiauliai city.

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Pergalės prieš Vokietiją minėjimas, centrinėje Šiaulių aikštėje.

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Šiaulių Didžiosios Choralinės sinagogos, vadintos Baltaja gulbe, griuvėsiai.

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Education – the City’s Main Priority

Šiaulių TIC — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 15:40:53 +0000

Already at the beginning of independence, the employees of the municipality in authority very well understood the importance of education. This is primarily apparent from the funds allocated for the revival of this sector. Here, Šiauliai undoubtedly had the lead among other cities of Lithuania: budget allocation for education in Šiauliai was almost twice larger than that in the temporary capital of Lithuania, Kaunas. Primary schools that were closed during the war were started to be expeditiously restored. Šiauliai Municipality initiated and put efforts to make primary education obligatory and free, accessible to everyone both in the city and the whole Lithuania. Progymnasiums for national minorities – Jews and Germans – provided four-grade primary education in native languages. The activities of Šiauliai Gymnasium were renewed as early as before the end of the First World War. The city’s Gymnasium, which was revived in the years of independence, was mixed for some time, but in 1928, based on the decision of the Ministry of Education, it was divided into previously existing separate boys’ and girls’ gymnasia. The Boys’ Gymnasium provided intensified courses of economics, exact sciences and classical languages; while the Girls’, foreign languages. The Jewish community gymnasium was maintained for the private funds of the community organization at the home of industrialists brothers Nurokai. There used to be various courses for adult teachers, technicians and civil servants who wished to acquire secondary education. These courses originated the establishment of the adult gymnasium in 1921.

In addition to traditional, public education institutions, special schools were established: the School of Music, founded in 1929, in the building housing the company of American Lithuanians in Dvaro street; the School of Commerce, which from 1936 was educating accountants and salesmen so needed for Šiauliai as the centre of industry and trade; the Secondary School of Crafts, which from 1926, educated specialists of two fields: joiners and leather industry specialists; the Teachers’ Seminary, established in 1920, in the former counts Zubovai manor. The latter is to be considered the first higher education institution in Šiauliai, educating teachers for the whole education system of Lithuania. In 1939, Klaipėda Trade Institute, moved from Klaipėda to Šiauliai, became the city’s second higher education institution. Šiauliai Trade Institute was spread in three places of the city: Tautininkai house, the Teachers’ Seminary, and later, also in the newly built post office. It educated highly qualified specialists who were needed for the growing needs of Šiauliai city: transport, trade, industry, credit institutions, banks, insurance specialists.

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Mokytojų seminarijos pastatas (Zubovų rūmai).

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Šiaulių berniukų gimnazija.

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Šiaulių mergaičių gimnazija.

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Mokytojų seminarijos pastatas (Zubovų rūmai).

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Žydų mokyklos mokiniai Ch. Frenkelio vilos kieme prie fontano.

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Šiaulių žydų gimnazijos pastatas.

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Mokytojų seminarijos pastatas (Zubovų rūmai).

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The Contribution of Šiauliai Jews to the City’s Industrial and Financial Activities

Šiaulių TIC — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 15:32:27 +0000

After the war, the industry quickly recovered reaching the level of the pre-war period, as there were active representatives of the Jewish community in the city. In principal, their active manufacturing and trading activities formed the city’s productive capacity and economic guidelines.

Activities of Ch.Frenkelis, brothers Nurokai, Rogalinai and Choronžickiai tanneries were renewed. By competing, they could both oppose each other as equivalent factories and unite in a cartel, which was able to regulate production prices and the amount needed for the domestic market, when Lithuania was affected by the world crisis at the end of the third decade of the 20^th century.

After the war, the city’s textile industry grew particularly rapidly, as it was planned to turn Šiauliai into the centre of Lithuanian flax processing industry. In 1920, the flax factory ‘Semlin’, founded by Leiba Bernštein, which employed about 2000 employees during a season, arose. In 1932, brothers Joselis and Mendelis Abramsonai set up even three flax processing factories: ‘Litlin’, ‘Litverp’ and ‘Virvolit’. ‘Audiniai’ enterprise, which produced cotton, linen and wool fabrics, matched these factories. This factory greatly influenced further development of the Lithuanian textile industry.

Inter-war industrial and trade activities were credited by Jewish banks: Š. Nurokas’s bank house, I. Choronžickis’s bank, and the Commercial bank. They provided services to private persons, but primarily to large enterprises, trade establishments, various associations, and the city municipality. For example, Š. Nurokas’s bank house mainly financed the activities of Nurokai factory, etc.

In addition to factories, there were enough trade enterprises and shops in the city. Most of them belonged to Jews and were known for the fact that usually the goods did not have prices, as all shopping in such places was a matter of everlasting negotiations between the buyer and the seller. Usually these institutions were set up in the city centre, around one of the most visited places – the cinema ‘Kapitol’.

Due to Jewish entrepreneurship, Šiauliai quickly not only restored its industry and trade to the pre-Tsarist period but also overtook it.

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Ch. Frenkelio fabrikas nuo Prūdelio pusės.

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Šiaulių Didžioji Choralinė sinagoga, vadinta Baltąja gulbe.

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Development of Public Services in the City

Šiaulių TIC — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:53:23 +0000

The municipality introduced new hygiene rules in the city: the residents had to build garbage bins at their houses and dig slop pits, constantly clean their streets and yards. Not only the inhabitants and factories, but also other enterprises had to stay clean. All of it was constantly inspected by municipal sanitary commissions. They also checked the level of cleanliness of laundries, baths, canteens, confectioner’s shops, restaurants and hotels. The city authorities forbade the sale of raw meat and herring in markets during the warm season, and the food sold had to be covered and protected from flies and dust.

Innovations emerged in the field of medical services provision. In 19030-1934, Jew Semion Volpert built a house and founded a clinic on its second floor, which was one of the first clinics not only in Lithuania but also in Latvia and Estonia that had an X-ray machine. Jewish hospital founded as early as the middle of the 19^th century in the city centre was also significant: in the interwar period, it was equipped with the entire complex to meet the treatment needs, consisting of a pharmacy, a chemical laboratory, premises for storage of inventory, and a laundry room.

From 1872, fire protection for the city was provided by a voluntary fire brigade supported by the city authorities. In 1928, it already had 50 members, 2 fire trucks with all necessary fire fighting equipment, 2 motorised water pumps and a pair of horses. Its building was built near the buildings of the city municipality, at the address Gaisrininkų St. 3, which survived to this day. But this was not the only fire fighting team. In addition to the tannery, Ch. Frenkelis, could also flaunt his private electric power plant and his own fire fighters’ brigade, established in 1908, consisting of 30 fire fighters who were factory workers. In addition to these, there were 4 more teams in the city, which were subordinate to other enterprises, making the total of 250 fire fighters. Therefore, Šiauliai, which was known for its frequent fires, could breathe easier in the interwar period: there were fires but not many and they would not cause such serious consequences as before.

There were repressive structures in the city too: the court, local police and the prison, which began functioning in 1911, intended to maintain order, provide protection for innocent civilians and to protect law.

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Šiaulių Gaisrininkų draugijos valdybos liudijimas, išduotas Baracevičiui Jonui apie buvimą gaisrininkų draugijos komandos nariu.

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Šiaulių akių, ausų, nosies ir gerklės gydytojo J. Gintylos receptas ir G. Zilbermano optikos bei fotografijos dalykų reklaminis lapelis.

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Šiaulių telefono stoties abonento kvitas Fledžinskui.

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Šiaulių apskrities savivaldybės akių ligoninės vedėjo J.Prialgausko akinių receptas, išrašytas Žukui Juozui.

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Jokūbo Frenkelio kvietimas Sondeckiui atvykti į fabriką, kuriame bus rengiamas fabriko gaisrininkų komandos dvidešimties metų gyvavimo jubiliejus.

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Ch. Frenkelio vila.

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Lietuvos banko pastatas Šiauliuose.

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Senasis pašto pastatas Šiauliuose.

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History of the City: from the Rebellion to the Rebellion

Šiaulių TIC — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 17:16:28 +0000

After survival of many fires and other persecuting cataclysms and a miraculous ability to recover after each of them, Šiauliai deserves to be called the city phoenix; this image also remains in the 19^th century. The city was twice greatly affected by the rebellions that took place in the Russian Empire, in the territory of the present-day Lithuania: in 1830-1831 and 1863-1864, first local nobles rebelled, willing to restore The Commonwealth of Both Nations or their former status, which was humiliated in the Russian Empire, and later, ordinary people, students rebelled against the power of oppressors and invaders. But before that, Šiauliai city knew what it meant to appear between two world powers, in the intercontinental conflict of two almost different civilizations: the Swedish Deluge period in the 17^th century and the Northern War in the 18^th century. In 1812, Šiauliai was twice crossed by troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of France. In the towns of Lithuania the Napoleonic administration organized national guards of townsmen to maintain public order, the main function of which were collection of taxes and duties in order to supply French troops with food and fodder. Šiauliai was not an exception. They also had to take care of foreign troops, not only setting out towards Moscow but also returning home after a failed campaign. This caused a lot of financial losses to the city, destroyed property and demanded human sacrifices; the city again declined almost by half.

The Tsarist authorities did not help to cover these losses and in 1830, the city that still had not managed to recover from the Napoleonic War again found itself at the epicentre of the military conflict: the participants of the insurrection from Raseiniai decided to choose Šiauliai as one of the first bases of military entrenchment. The Tsarist troops, who understood the strategic significance of Šiauliai for the rebels, quickly attacked the city and regained it, but Šiauliai time and again moved from hands to hands between the two sides of the conflict, until finally the rebels, having lost the decisive battle near Lake Talkša, withdrew and eventually lost the very insurrection. Šiauliai paid much for it again. Part of the city’s inhabitants was sentenced to death, others were either deported to Siberia or left fleeing from repressions. The city itself, as one of the major centres of the rebellion, underwent rapid colonization of the country in order to stabilize the situation by bringing Orthodox people who were granted a number of privileges. Judging from sparse numbers of settlers, it seems that this tactics did not quite work. Nevertheless, the city managed to recover and rebuild, but again fell into the epicentre of the collision of two different positions in 1863-1864. This time the city no longer needed to oppose the Tsarist Army. The events of 1863 promoted a feudal relationship crisis, when an unconsidered decision had a major impact on the fates of most people. In 1861, a decree is issued, granting civic freedoms to peasants, who till that time were tormented by serfdom, but not granting them the right to possess at least some cultivable land for free, which instantly turned them free but landless. This provokes a chain of reactions and protests responding to them in the Empire, which ended with a new armed rebellion against the Tsarist rule. On February 9^th, 1863, the governor-general informed the governor of Kaunas that two infantry squads and two cavalry squadrons were arriving to prevent possible turmoil in Šiauliai. Due to these security measures, Šiauliai no longer fell into the rebels’ hands, because the arrived Tsar’s army did not give way to this position during the whole rebellion. On the other hand, it was far from calm, as persistent struggles were taking place near Šiauliai, influencing communication relationships with other cities and the like. Here, rebels confronted the enemy army 22 times, although most of the rebellion fights took place near Trakai (23) and Panevėžys (25). When the rebellion was suppressed, Šiauliai was turned into a place of rebels’ execution. In September, 1863 – February, 1864, on the outskirts of the city, in the holdings of count Zubovas, the commanders of the rebellious civic squads B. Kvietkauskas, P. Bagdonavičius, A. Kobylinskis and also participants of the reballion J. Morkis, M. Scipionas, K. Brazulis, A. Kučevskis and others were hanged and shot. Now, this place where the rebels were buried is known as the Hill of Rebels, marked with the Independence Monument, honouring the rebels and protecting their bones.

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1863 metai.

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Išgyvenę 1863 m.

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1863 m.

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Pliateryte – 1831 m. sukilimas.

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Šiauliai on the Threshold of Changes

Šiaulių TIC — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 17:04:49 +0000

Straight after the third partition of the Commonwealth of Both Nations and the occupation of the land of Lithuania, Russian Empress Catherine II, based on the Russian law ‘Malonės raštas miestams’ (‘Letter of Grace to Cities’), in 1785, granted these privileges and rights to Šiauliai: Šiauliai became the centre of the county. Just before the land of Lithuania goes to the Russian Empire, the authority of Šiauliai economy passes to count Platonas Zubovas, the favourite of the Empress of Russia, Catherine II. This is an important turning point in the history of Šiauliai not so much due to P. Zubovas’s activities but because the holdings ruled by him were passed to his elder brother Dmitrijus, who originated the Lithuanian branch of the Zubovai family, which was famous and well deserving to Šiauliai and Lithuania. The power of local nobility was diminishing, and Russian authorities believed that namely they were the most rebellious social stratum. Meanwhile, the belief predominated that it was much easier to control townspeople, which determines the growth of their stratum. All authorities of the city are concentrated in the hands of city hall officials and executives, whose decisions are often inseparable from the will of the central authority, while cultural life usually depends on intellectuals of noble origin. The life of Šiauliai city in the Russian Empire is best reflected in several different but important activity areas.

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Grafas Vladimiras Nikolajevičius Zubovas.

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The Origins of the Jewish Community Development in the City

Šiaulių TIC — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:37:01 +0000

Initially, the city that has always been known as standing in the localities exclusively inhabited by Lithuanians, reluctantly let in the representatives of other peoples. The city let in the first Jewish merchants, who decided to settle in Šiauliai, because they had to obey the privileges granted by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jonas Sobieskis. This was not because the local people were hostile to other nations but more because they feared, by the way, reasonably, the economic competition that would increase, for since the old times, everywhere the Jews were known as excellent merchants and manufacturers of various goods. At the beginning of the 18^th century, the plague that followed the Northern War, which destroyed the local community of Šiauliai, in 1736, led to abolition of the prohibition for the Jews to settle in Šiauliai, which until then was in force with certain reservations. In the beginning, townspeople protested against this decision but in the long run, people not only became reconciled to this, but the city became one of the Jewish cultural centres both in Lithuania and in all Eastern Europe.