Йонава: История и современность литовского города

Town in Aukštaitija Region, Lithuania

Jonava ( ; Janów; Janau) is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of c. 30,000. It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas International Airport. Achema, the largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states, is located nearby. The city is sometimes called "the capital of midsummer holiday" (lt. – Joninės).

Jonava was officially established as a city in the 18th century during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1750, the first wooden church was built in Jonava. In 1778, a beer brewery was operating in the town. Around 1812, Napoleon and his army invaded the town and its surrounding villages. In 1923, Jonava was officially recognised as a city status settlement and in 1950 it became the centre of the municipality. The city had a large Jewish population before World War II. In 1893, 92% of the population was Jewish and in 1941 it was 80%. In 1932 there were 250 shops owned by Jewish families, a Jewish bank, 7 synagogues and a Jewish school. During World War II Jonava was attacked by Nazi Germany. A Christian church and five Jewish synagogues were destroyed. The Jews of the city were killed in two massacres, in August and September 1941. A total of 2,108 people were executed by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian Self Defence Units. 200 remaining Jews were kept prisoners at the Kaunas ghetto. After the war, the city built the largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states and Jonava become one of the 4 biggest industrial cities in Lithuania.

An explosion occurred in the chemical fertilizers factory on 20 March 1989, causing a leakage of nearly 7,500 tonnes of liquid ammonia. The catastrophe developed further into a fire within the nitrophosphate facility and fertilizer storehouses polluting the atmosphere with products of their combustion, such as nitrous oxide and chlorine. The toxic cloud drifted towards Ukmergė, Širvintos and Kėdainiai. The concentration of ammonia surpassed the permissible level by a factor of 150 in Upninkai, at 10 km from the disaster site. One day after the accident, a toxic cloud 7 km wide and 50 km long was recorded between Jonava and Kėdainiai. Seven people died during the fire and leakage of ammonia immediately afterward, 29 people became handicapped, and a large number of people suffered from acute respiratory and cardiac attacks. The true extent of damages and health impact from the event is however unknown. What is known is that exposure to ammonia prenatally, especially at a young age can cause serious brain damage.

The city has its own "physical culture and sports center" with stadium, swimming pool and indoor arena. It has already been announced that the city is going to build a new large indoor arena "BC Jonava".

The marathon runners sport club Maratonas won 4 medals at Vilnius Marathon.

Jonava has a basketball team, founded in 1969; Jonava SK Malsta playing in the National Basketball League (Nacionalinė Krepšinio Lyga). There is also a women's basketball team called BC Jonava which won bronze medals in the women's Second Basketball Division (Nacionalinė moterų krepšinio lyga).

Jonava has a strong women's volleyball team Achema KKSC that playing in the highest league A Grupė. In 2010 Jonava held the international "Alfredas Ogonauskas Memorial Volleyball Championship".

Jonava also hosts some less regular competitions. During the traditional midsummer holiday there was "Jonas's Republic President Cup" of Rally Slalom events. In summer seasons there are some occasional cycling tournaments or cross country competitions.