Names of Settlements in Lithuania Minor

• The Lithuanian Language in East Prusia
• On the Re-Establishment of Old Place Names  in  the Karaliaučius Territory
• Index of Names of Settlements in Lithuania Minor
• The Maps of Lithuania Minor:
  [Early 18th century (173 KB)], [East Prussia 1920 (165 KB)], [Kaliningrad region  (305 KB)]

Zigmas ZINKEVIČIUS

THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE IN EAST PRUSSIA

An even sadder fate befell the Lithuanian language in East Prussia, i.e., in that part of Lithuania Minor which remained under German rule after World War I. The Nazis destroyed it without mercy. As the war was ending, many of the inhabitants of East Prussia fled to the interior of Germany. But not all of them. There were people who hoped that after their land had been annexed to Soviet Lithuania, Lithuanians, at least, would not be persecuted. But that did not happen. Stalin did not differentiate between Lithuanians and Germans. The terror began: people were driven from their places of birth and killed without trial.   The Soviets committed genocide. Hoping to save themselves, many people fled to Soviet Lithuania. From the autumn of 1944 to the spring of 1945 there appeared in the western part of Soviet Lithuania a multitude of beggars from East Prussia, mostly women with little children and old people. Many of them spoke Lithuanian, but there were also people who understood the language only a little bit or not at all. Although forbidden to do so by the Bolsheviks, people tried to help these unfortunates. The Soviet government quickly rounded up the adults. They were deported to Germany or exiled to Siberia, where almost all of them died. Mothers left their children to be raised by Lithuanians. Forty years later, these little Germans started looking for their brothers, sisters, and other relatives.

It may be said that none of the original inhabitants are left in East Prussia. Except for the southern part, which was incorporated into Poland, this region was annexed by the Russian Federation, with which it had nothing in common. Even their territories are not contiguous. Thus, a large part of East Prussia became a Russian colony. After 700 years, Lithuania no longer has Germans for neighbors and is now surrounded by Slavs.

The rulers of the Kremlin populated East Prussia with Russians.  People came from Smolensk, Voronezh, Orel, and other regions. By the end of 1946 about 12 thousand families had been moved. In 1988 more than 800 thousand people, mostly Russians, lived in the region. An absurd idea was drummed into their heads, namely, that from times immemorial East Prussia had been a Russian or at least Slavic land.  This claim was made, among others, in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia published in 1953. Dissertations even appeared whose authors attempted to prove that the Old Prussians were almost the same as the Russians.

In order to make East Prussia look more Russian, place names were changed. Cities, towns, and villages were often renamed after Bolshevik leaders and military men, even czarist generals. The place names of this ill-fated land underwent the greatest metamorphosis imaginable.  Lithuanian place names, which had been Germanized (at first partially and only in 1938 completely), were now Russified. For example:

Budviečiai > Budwehten > Altenkirch > Malomozhaiskoye

Gavaičiai > Gawaiten > Herzogsrode > Gavrilovo

Girėnai > Girrehnen > Guldengrund > Grivino

Kalnininkai > Kalninghen > Herdenau > Prakhladnoye

Kraupiškas > Kraupischken > Breitenstern > Ulyanovo

Lazdynai (Lazdenai) > Lasdehnen > Haselberg > Krasnoznamensk

Mielaukiai > Mehlauken > Liebenfelde > Zalesye

Mielkiemis > Mehlkehmen > Birkenmuehle > Kalinino

Papelkiai > Popelken > Marthausen > Vysokoye

Pilkalnis > Pillkallen > Schlossberg > Dobrovolsk

Pilipėnai > Pillupoenen > Schlossbach > Nevskoye

Skaisgiriai > Gr. Skaisgirren > Kreuzingen > Bolshakovo

Stalupėnai > Stallupoenen > Ebenrode > Nesterov

The Stalinists did not leave even one of the old Lithuanian or at least Baltic names here despite a common border with the Soviet Republic of Lithuania. The Russians acted as if they had discovered an uninhabited land, one without a history, which, therefore, could be named after its "discoverers." Cultural heritage was ignored. Known to Baltic philologists all over the world as the home of Abelis Vilius (Abel Will), who translated the Third Prussian Catechism, Pabetai (Pobethen) became Romanovo; as for the home of the brilliant Lithuanian writer Kristijonas Donelaitis, Tolminkiemis was transformed into Chistiye Prudy. Even hydronyms were Russified (which is uncommon in world history). Aismares (Frisches Haff) became Vislinskiy Zaliv, and:

 

 

 

 

Alna > Lava

Ameta > Strogovka

Gilija > Matrosovka

Nemunynas > Zlaya

Rominta > Krasnaya

Skirvytė > Severnaya

Thus, all traces were destroyed of the people who had lived here for centuries. And all this was done not by the Teutonic knights or some Western invaders, but by our "elder brothers," whose behavior surpassed even that of the Nazis (who had changed only 56.7 percent of the total number of place names in 1938). Incidentally, Poland partly followed the example of our "elder brothers" by also changing some of the Lithuanian (Baltic) names in its part of East Prussia. Compare the metamorphosis:

Degučiai > Degucie > Makow

Galviečiai > Galviecie > Duza Wies

Kiekskiemiai > Kiekskiejmy > Zielonka

Pluskiemiai > Pluszkiejmy > Placka

Excerpted from the book
LIETUVININKŲ ŽODIS The Folklore of the Lietuvininkai ( pp.478 – 485 )

Illustrations from: Ostpreußishe Sagen. Herausgegben von Christa Hinze und Ulf Diedericks, Eugen Diedericks Verlag, 1991. 99 pp.

Vytautas KALTENIS

ETERNAL LITHUANIAN OAKS

<...>On May 30, 1992, representatives of organizations for emigres and people from Lithuania Minor gathered in Vilnius. They adopted the Vilnius Declaration, which recognizes the Act of the National Council of Prussian Lithuania, signed in Tilžė on November 30, 1918; the Declaration of the Fulda [Germany] Conferences of November 6, 1946; and the documents of later conferences held in the USA, Canada, and Australia.

The Vilnius Declaration urges the governments of the Republics of Lithuania and Latvia to be more concerned about the historical continuity of Baltic territories. Concern is expressed about the genocide which began in Lithuania Minor in October, 1944, and about the demilitarization of the Karaliaučius territory. With regard to the old names of places, rivers, and lakes in this territory, an appeal is made to the Lithuanian Ministries of Transportation and Communication, the press, and public organizations.

Incidentally, the Russian Duma recently prohibited the restoration of the old place names. After a resolution in favor of doing so was submitted to the Council of Europe, the Russians passed a counterresolution prohibiting the local administration of this district from restoring place names.

Lithuania should speak more openly about the need to protect and revive the cultural heritage of the original Lithuanian and Prussian inhabitants of this region. According to the Lithuanian politician Česlovas Stankevičius, "the statement that the Republic of Lithuania does not make territorial claims on the Karaliaucius region does not mean that we do not have ethnic interests here. We are concerned that the cultural heritage of the Lietuvininkai and Prussians be protected and revived, that the rights of the Lietuvininkai and Lithuanians be recognized to return to the land of their ancestors, to freely settle and live there, and to create their own community and enjoy the same ethnic rights as Russians do in Lithuania" (Dr. Nastazija Kairiūkštytė, "Potsdam and the Karaliaučius Territory," Vilnius, 1996, p. 71).. <...>

VORUTA, December 6 -12, 1997, Nr. 46

Indexes of Place Names in Lithuania Minor

• Lithuanian * German * Russian
• German * Russian * Lithuanian
• Russian * Lithuanian * German

The Maps of Lithuania Minor

• A Map of the Ethnically Lithuanian Part of Prussia in the Early 18th Century (173 KB)
• The Map of East Prussia in 1920 (165 KB)
• A Map of the North Part of Lithuania Minor (195 KB)
• Lithuania Minor Today - the Kaliningrad Region of Russia (305 KB)

Lithuanian * German * Russian Index

A B C D E Ė F G I Y J K L M N P R S Š T U V Ž

German * Russian * Lithuanian Index

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U W Z

Russian * Lithuanian * German Index

A B Ch Č D F G I J K L M N P O R S Š T U V Z Ž