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Ełk (; before 1939 rendered in Polish as ''Łęg'' or ''Łęk'') is a town in northeastern Poland with 61,156 inhabitants (as of 2010). It was assigned to Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999, after belonging to Suwałki Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. Ełk is the capital of Ełk County. It lies on a shore of Ełk Lake, which was formed by a glacier, and is surrounded by forests. It is the largest city, and according to many, the capital of the region of Masuria. One of its principal attractions is hunting, which is carried out in extensive forests. ==History== By 1283, the last Sudovian Prussian leader, Skomand (Lithuania:Skalmantas), capitulated to the Teutonic Knights in the area. After 1323, the northern part of the region was administered by the Komturship of Brandenburg, while the larger part with the later town belonged to Komturship Balga. A former Old Prussian settlement, the town was first documented in 1398 around an a castle built by the Teutonic Knights. The town's name has various postulated origins. Its German version ''Lyck'' is postulated to be derived from its Old Prussian name, ''Luks'' (from the word for waterlily, ''luka''), while another theory holds that the name comes from Polish word "łęg" meaning meadow.〔Program Rewitalizacji Ełku, page 20 Załącznik nr 1 do Uchwały Nr LIII/493/10 Rady Miasta Ełku z dnia 25 maja 2010 roku〕 It received its town rights in 1445. In 1537, Duke Albert of Prussia donated an estate to Jan Malecki, a Polish printer from Kraków who had either fled or moved to Ducal Prussia (at the time a fief of Poland) for material reasons, to establish a printing house.〔 * *Hołd pruski Maria Bogucka, Wydawnictwo Interpress,page 137 1982 *Archiwa, biblioteki i muzea kościelne, Tomy 69-70 Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski. Ośrodek Archiwów, Bibliotek i Muzeów Kościelnych, page 131 1998〕 After converting to Lutheranism, Malecki translated and published Martin Luther's Small Catechism in Polish In 1546 the first school for secondary education in Masuria was founded in the city, where Polish nobles from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as Germans from Ducal Prussia were taught in Polish; the position of a Polish teacher remained in place until 1819.〔Dzieje Warmii i Mazur w zarysie, Tomy 1-2 Jerzy Sikorski, Stanisław Szostakowski, Ośrodek Badań Naukowych im. Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego w Olsztynie Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, page 190, 1981〕 In 1709/10, the plague claimed 1,300 victims.〔 〕 In 1831, 300 people, about 10 percent of the populace, died of the cholera, in 1837 another 80 and 333 in 1852. In 1825, Lyck was inhabited by 1,748 Germans and 1,394 Poles.〔Historia Pomorza:(1815-1850),Gerard Labuda, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk,page 157, 1993〕 At the beginning of the 19th century, a Polish-language school was organised in the city by Tymoteusz Gizewiusz〔Karty z dziejów Mazur: wybór pism, Tom 1 Emilia Sukertowa-Biedrawina Pojezierze,page 68 1972〕 In 1820, Fryderyk Tymoteusz Krieger became the superintendent of the school and actively defended the rights of local Poles to use the Polish language. Kireger also prepared Polish educational programs, in opposition to attempts at Germanization by Prussian authorities.〔Tadeusz Oracki,page 173, Instytut Wydawniczy Pax, 1983〕 In 1840, the German-language newspaper ''"Lycker gemeinnütziges Unterhaltungsblatt"'', later called ''"Lycker Zeitung"'', was founded. Between 1842 and 1845, a Masurian newspaper ''"Przyjaciel Ludu Łecki"'' (Łek's Friend of the People) was printed in the city, whose aim was to resist Germanisation and cultivate Polish folk traditions as well as educate the local rural population〔Wielka encyklopedia powszechna PWN: Polska-Robe Bogdan Suchodolski, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe,page 566, 1967〕〔Koncepcje i rozwój literatury dla ludu w latach 1773–1863 Eugenia Sławińska, Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna w Bydgoszczy,page 45 1996〕 In May 1845, a Polish resistance movement in the city was organized by Kazmierz Szulc, whose aim was to prepare local Polish youth for an uprising.〔Rocznik gdański, Tom 48,Wydanie 2 Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe. Wydział I--Nauk Społecznych i Humanistycznych Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe,page 73, 1990〕 From 1896 to 1902, ''"Gazeta Ludowa"'', a Polish-language newspaper, heavily subsidised by banks from Greater Poland representing the Polish national movement in Masuria, was published in the city.〔Zarys historii polskiego ruchu ludowego: makieta: Tom 1 Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe. Naczelny Komitet. Zakład Historii Ruchu Ludowego, Stanisław Kowalczyk, Józef Kowal, page 223- 1963〕 It soon faced repression and discrimination from the German authorities which led to its demise;〔Szkice z dziejów Pomorza: Pomorze na progu dziejów najnowszych, Gerard Labuda Książka i Wiedza,"12.Gazeta Ludowa w Ełku", page 303 1961〕 its paid circulation dropped from 357 copies in 1896 to less than 250 at the turn-of-the-century.〔Richard Blanke:"Polish-speaking Germans", pages 68, 72〕 According to German-American author, Richard Blanke, the "demise marked the end of the second major effort by Polish nationalists to establish a journalistic foothold in Masuria".〔Richard Blanke:"Polish-speaking Germans", page 73〕 In 1896, Polish and Masurian activists founded the Masurian People's Party in the city, which sought to resist efforts of German authorities at forced Germanization. The co-founder of the party was poet Michał Kajka, today honoured in Ełk with a monument in the centre of the city.〔 *() *Mały słownik historii Polski Witold Sienkiewicz Wiedza Powszechna,page 59, 1991 *Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN, Tom 4, Barbara Petrozoliń-Skowrońska Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN,page 136 1996〕 From the start, the party was subject to severe repressions and attacks by Prussian authorities.〔Kraj a emigracja: ruch ludowy wobec wychodźstwa chłopskiego do krajów Ameryki Łacińskiej (do 1939 roku) Jerzy Mazurek, page 281, Biblioteka Iberyjska, 2006〕 In the German federal elections, the MPL received 229 votes in 1898 and 20 in 1912 in the Lyck constituency.〔Richard Blanke:"Polish-speaking Germans", page 71〕 In 1910, Lyck had more than 13,000 inhabitants.〔Andreas Kossert: Masuren - Ostpreußens vergessener Süden, page 33〕 Mateusz Siuchniński gives the percentage of Poles in 1900 as 35.7% but warns that the numbers come from lowered German estimates.〔Miasta polskie w tysiącleciu: Tom 1 Mateusz Siuchniński - Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich,page 275 1965〕 Many citizens fled during World War I, when Imperial Russian troops attacked the region, but returned after the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian lakes. English and Italian troops were deployed in the town after the Treaty of Versailles〔Butler, Rohan, Massachusetts., Bury, J.P.T.,MA., & Lambert M.E., MA., editors, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, 1st Series, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1960, vol.x, Chapter VIII, "The Plebiscites in Allenstein and Marienwerder January 21 - September 29, 1920"〕 to supervise the East Prussian plebiscite, which resulted in 8,339 votes for Germany and 8 for Poland. It was in Lyck that the first-ever weekly newspaper in the Hebrew language, Ha-Magid ("the preacher") was founded in 1856 by Eliezer Lipmann Silbermann, a local rabbi. The paper was eventually moved to Berlin.〔 In Weimar Germany anti-Semitism became prevalent, which led to persecution of the local Jewish population even before the Nazis took power. An anti-Semitic publication ''"Die jüdische Überlegenheit"'' (The Jewish Supremacy) attacking the Jews circulated in 1927 at a local gathering of fascist sympathizers〔() Virtual Sztetl〕 In 1932, the local pharmacist Leo Frankenstein was attacked; a hand grenade was thrown into his home.〔Ełk History〕 The wave of anti-Semitic repressions intensified after Nazis gained power in Germany in 1933 and many local merchants and intellectuals of Jewish descent were arrested.〔 During Kristallnacht, Jewish shops and synagogue were plundered and devastated in the town.〔 Facing these events, several Jews of Lyck decided to escape, some abroad, some to Berlin, others fled from Germany as far as Shanghai〔 Of those Jews who remained, 80 were murdered in various German concentration and death camps.〔 The city also was site of prison camps for Norwegian and Soviet PoWs during World War II.〔Teczka specjalna J.W. Stalina:raporty NKWD z Polski 1944-1946, page 159 Instytut Studiów Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 199〕〔Cudzoziemcy w polskim ruchu oporu: 1939-1945, Stanisław Okęcki, page 136 "Interpress,"〕 It was heavily damaged by bombardments. The county of Lyck had 53,000 inhabitants when the Soviet Army approached in January 1945. The town was placed under Polish administration in April 1945 and since then has been part of Poland. It was rebuilt and renamed Ełk (before 1939, Polish names for the town included ''Łęg'' and ''Łęk''). In 1999, Ełk was visited by Pope John Paul II. About 300,000 people attended the Pope's Mass. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ełk」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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