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'Jurbarkas' () is a city in Tauragė County, Lithuania. It is on the right-hand shore of the Nemunas River at its confluence with the tributaries Mituva and Imsre.

Contents

Alternate names

History

Famous residents

Partnership

References

External links

Alternate names

Jurbarkas, or ''Yurbarkas'', has also been known in German as ''Georgenburg'', ''Jurgenburg'', and ''Eurburg'', and in Yiddish as ''Jurborg'', ''Jurburg'', ''Yurburg'', ''Yurberig'', and ''Yurbrik''.

History

Although Jurbarkas is said to have been a seat of the fabled Lithuanian princes Kunos and Gimbut, it was first documented in 1259 as the Teutonic Knights' ''Ordensburg'' castle of 'Georgenburg' ("George's castle") on the Nemunas. This castle was constructed three km west of the current town on a hill now known as Bispiliukai, while the Lithuanians built a castle on Bispulis hill by the Imsre. Although the German crusaders were often at war with the Lithuanians, Mindaugas, King of Lithuania, did not oppose Georgenburg's construction after his conversion to Christianity.
The castle of Georgenburg was abandoned by the Teutonic Knights after their defeat in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. The region was included within Lithuania in the Treaty of Lake Melno in 1422, and the current site of Jurbarkas began to develop as a border town and customs point, growing through the exporting of lumber on the Nemunas to Ducal Prussia. Jurbarkas received Magdeburg rights in 1611.
In 1795 Jurbarkas was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland and included in Kovno Guberniya (1795-1915). Its growth stagnated during the 19th century as traffic on the Nemunas decreased because of the rise of railways. The town was briefly occupied by rebels during the November Uprising in 1831. Because of its riverside location, Jubarkas often suffered from floods (notably in 1862). 120 houses burned down from a fire in 1906.

Jurbarkas was for centuries a multi-ethnic community and the location of a shtetl. During the 17th century some of the town's Jewish population were employed as tax collectors for the Lithuanian government. By 1714 Jubarkas had 2,333 Jews. By 1790 the town had a Jewish cemetery and a wooden synagogue, one of the oldest in the region. In 1862 there were 2,550 Jews. In 1843 Emperor Nicholas I ordered that Jews living within 50 km of the Empire's western border should relocate eastward, but Jurbarkas was one of 19 towns which disobeyed the order. The Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah) prospered in Jurbarkas.
Many of the town's Jewish citizens left during World War I, although some returned. It became part of Raseiniai County in the independent Lithuania created after the war. The population decreased from 7,391 in 1897 to 4,409 in 1923, while the Jewish population increased over the same period from 1,887 (43%) to 2,350 (32%). A government census in Jurbarkas in 1931 indicated that Jews owned 69 of 75 business and 18 of 19 light industries. While Jurbarkas had been for generations a town of tolerance, during the nationalist climate of the 1930s Jews suffered from persecution such as suppression of their commerce, physical attacks, and burning of their property.
The Soviet Union occupied the town in 1940 during World War II and nationalized many of the Jewish-owned companies. Jewish cultural organizations were also suppressed. Jurbarkas was invaded by Nazi Germany on 22 June 1941, the first day of Operation Barbarossa. Among other persecutions, Lithuanian collaborators forced the Jews to destroy the wooden synagogue.Dov Levin and Yosef Rosin, edited by Sarah and Mordehai Kopfstein."Yurburg (Jurbarkas)". Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Accessed June 22 2006. The Jewish population of Jurbarkas was systematically killed in 1941. A few dozen Jews from the town and escapees from the Kaunas ghetto formed a partisan group to attack Nazi forces, although the majority were killed. A monument at the mass graves was constructed after the war to honor the Holocaust victims.
The town became an important road junction after a bridge was built over the Nemunas in 1978.

Famous residents

★ Vincas Grybas (1890-1941), sculptor

★ William Zorach (1887-1966), Jewish sculptor

Partnership

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Crailsheim, Germany

★

Berlin-Lichtenberg, Germany

References

★ Joel Alpert. ''The Memorial Book for the Jewish Community of Yurburg, Lithuania - Translation and Update''. Lightning Source UK Ltd, ISBN 0-9741262-0-9)

External links

★ Jurbarkas regional council

★ Jurbarkas information

★ History of Yurburg (Jurbarkas)

★ Photos of Yurburg

★ Jurbarkas Area History Museum

★ The Memorial Book for the Jewish Community of Yurburg, Lithuania