History of Marijampole

ijampolė. During World War II the town was occupied by Germany. The SS murdered most of the towns' Jewish inhabitants. In the effect of the war the town was heavily damaged and almost emptied. After the war it was rebuilt and repopulated with immigrants from other parts of Lithuania. Currently in Marijampolė, roughly 95% of its inhabitants are Lithuanians, with 4% being Russians and less than 1% being Poles.

On April 9, 1955 the authorities of Lithuanian SSR once again renamed the town, this time to Kapsukas, after a Lithuanian communist politician Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas. The old name was restored after Lithuania regained her independence.

The Anshe Shalom synagogue in Chicago, Illinois was founded by immigrants from Marijampolė