Židikai

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = LTU
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Židikai

leader_title =
postal_code_type =

official_name = Židikai
nickname =


image_shield =

---

image_caption = St. John the Baptist's church in Židikai
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Kėdainiai
pushpin_mapsize =
latd=56|latm=19|lats=|latNS=N|longd=22|longm=01|longs=|longEW=E
subdivision_type1=Ethnographic region
subdivision_name1 = Samogitia
subdivision_type2=County
subdivision_name2 = Autolink|Telšiai County
subdivision_type3=Municipality
subdivision_name3 = Mažeikiai district municipality
subdivision_type4=Elderate
subdivision_name4 = Židikai elderate
subdivision_type6=Capital of
subdivision_name6 = Židikai elderate
established_date = 1568
established_title=First mentioned
subdivision_name5 =
population_total = 536
population_as_of = 2003

Židikai is a town in Mažeikiai district municipality, Lithuania. It is located 21 km west of Mažeikiai.

History

Židikai name has been originated from the words "Žydi kaip laukas", or from the word "Židikis" (tough). For the first time Židikai was mentioned in 1568. Since 1614, Židikai belonged to Kražiai Jesuits. In 1659, during the Northern Wars, the Swedish burnt down Židikai; later on, some more fires ravaged the town.

In Židikai, from 1915 till the end of her days, in town lived an authoress and educational Šatrijos Ragana - Marija Pečkauskaitė (1877–1930).

External links

*http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Zidikai/Home.htm Archive and Memorial website for Židikai (Zhidik in Yiddish)– what was a predominantly Jewish Shtetl (tiny village), destructed at the Holocaust during WWII