Žiežmariai () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the

Kaišiadorys district municipality Kaišiadorys District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of ...

, Lithuania. It is located south of

Kaišiadorys Kaišiadorys () is a city in central Lithuania. It is situated between Vilnius and Kaunas. Kaišiadorys is one of six Lithuanian diocese centres. It is home to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Christ built in 1932. The Lithuanian Veterinar ...

. The center of Žiežmariai is a state-protected urbanistic monument.

History

Žiežmariai were mentioned for the first time in the 14th century in the '' Lithuanian route report'' (''Wegeberichte''), prepared by the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

. In 1348 close to Žiežmariai by the river of Strėva, the

Battle of Strėva The Battle of Strėva, Strebe, or Strawe was fought on 2 February 1348 between the Teutonic Order and the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the banks of the Strėva River, a right tributary of the Neman River, near present-day Žiežmariai. Chronic ...

between the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army led by Algirdas and

Kęstutis Kęstutis ( la, Kinstut, ; – 3 or 15 August 1382) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the Duke of Trakai and governed the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1342–1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila ...

and the Teutonic Army took place. Since 15th century Žiežmariai estate is known, in 1487 Žiežmariai town is mentioned. In 1508 or 1509 a Catcholic church was built, and the school was established in 1520. In 1576 and in 1791 Žiežmariai received

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

and the coat of arms in 1792. During the 16th century Žiežmariai started to grow intensively due to their proximity to the road Vilnius-Kaunas. In 1580 the town suffered from fire two times. In the 18th century it was devastated by the Swedish army during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

, plague epidemic started. At the beginning of the 19th century, Žiežmariai was devastated by the Napoleon's army. In 1777 the parish school was reestablished which taught singing in Latin and Lithuanian. During the Lithuanian Wars of Independence Lithuanian army stopped the advancing army of bolsheviks at the battle near Žiežmariai. The Jewish population was important in the town since the 16th century and represented 50% of the total population before World War II. In 1941, hundreds of Jews from the city and from nearby villages of Kaisiadorys and Žasliai were murdered in mass executions perpetrated by an einsatzgruppen of Germans and local collaborators. In 1941 and in 1948 Soviet occupation deported 20 inhabitants of Žiežmariai.

Lithuanian partisans The Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged a guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule ...

from the

Didžioji Kova military district Didžioji Kova military district (''The Great Fight partisan military district'') - is a military district of Lithuanian partisans which operated in 1945 - 1950 in the counties of Vilnius, Kaunas and Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmerg ...

(''The Great Fight partisan military district'') were active in Žiežmariai district. Ziezmairu kulturos namai

Notable people

* Juozapotas Ignotas Lukaševičius (1789–1850), painter. * Kazys Morkūnas (1924–2014), stained glass artist. * Algimantas Aksomaitis (1936–2012), mathematician. * Vytautas Onaitis (1939–1968), poet.

References

External links

Žiežmariai

The murder of the Jews of Žiežmariai
during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website. Cities in Lithuania Cities in Kaunas County Trakai Voivodeship Troksky Uyezd 1501 establishments in Europe Holocaust locations in Lithuania {{KaunasCounty-geo-stub