Linkuva

The first Jews apparently settled in Linkuva at the beginning of the 18th century. By the end of the 19th century there were 1,213 Jews in the town out of a total of 1,992 residents. During the period of an independent Lithuania the number of Jews dropped to 625, which was 34 percent of the total population. Most of the Jews of Linkuva earned their living from commerce, small industry, agriculture, or crafts. With the establishment of the Zionist movement in Lithuania at the end of the 19th century Linkuva's Jews established several Zionist youth movements and were active in aiding Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. In 1940, with the annexation of Lithuania to the USSR, all the town’s factories and stores, mainly owned by Jews, were nationalized. Zionist political activities and education in Hebrew were banned. On June 23, 1941, after the Soviet withdrawal from Lithuania, the Jews of Linkuva began to flee eastward. During their flight some Jews were ambushed by Lithuanian nationalists and killed. At that time hundreds of Jews escaping eastward from Šiauliai and the neighboring towns found refuge in Linkuva and remained there. On orders from the Lithuanian police most of the town's Jews were forcibly held in stables and warehouses, where they were brutally attacked. Between the beginning of the German occupation and July 23, 1941 the entire Jewish population of Linkuva, numbering about 700, was murdered. The Red Army liberated Linkuva in the summer of 1944.