Kaišiadorys

Kaišiadorys ([kɐɪɕɛˈdôːrʲiːs] (listen); see Etymology below) is a city in central Lithuania. It is situated between Vilnius and Kaunas. Kaišiadorys is one of six Lithuanian diocese centres. It is home to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ built in 1932. The Lithuanian Veterinary Institute is located there.

Kaišiadorys
City
Coat of arms
Kaišiadorys Location of Kaišiadorys
Coordinates: 54°52′N 24°27′E
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Aukštaitija
County	Kaunas County
Municipality	Kaišiadorys district municipality
Eldership	Kaišiadorys town eldership
Capital of	Kaišiadorys district municipality Kaišiadorys town eldership Kaišiadorys rural eldership
First mentioned	1590
Granted city rights	1946
Population  (2011)
• Total	8,664
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Etymology

Its name is unusual because of its Asiatic roots. Kaišiadorys was named after a Tatar noble, Khaishadar, who lived in the area during the 16th century.

History

The city expanded when a railroad connecting Vilnius with Liepāja was built in 1871. During the First World War, the city was occupied by the Germans in 1915, and it became the capital of an administrative unit for the first time. In 1919 the first train departed from Kaišiadorys to Radviliškis. When Trakai and the rest of the Vilnius Region became part of Poland, Kaišiadorys became the temporary capital of the Trakai Apskritis.

On August, 1941, the Jewish population of the town and surroundings was murdered in mass executions perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian nationalists.[1][2][3]

Notable people

• The first President of the re-established independent Republic of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, was a pupil in Kaišiadorys in his youth; a secondary school there is named after him
• European basketball forward Ramūnas Šiškauskas was born in Kaišiadorys
• The first Lithuanian racing driver to compete at an international level, Kazimieras Vasiliauskas, is also from the town

References

1. www.atease.lt, Created atEase. "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania". www.holocaustatlas.lt. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
2. www.atease.lt, Created atEase. "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania". www.holocaustatlas.lt. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
3. The murder of the Jews of Kaišiadorys in the Holocaust, at Yad Vashem website

External links

• Kaišiadorys Poultry Factory
• Museum of Kaišiadorys (in Lithuanian)
• The murder of the Jews of Kaišiadorys during World War II, at Yad Vashem website.