Kelmė (; 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 northwestern

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 three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, a historical region of

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. It has a population of 8,206 and is the administrative center of the

Kelmė district municipality Kelmė (; is a city in northwestern Lithuania, a historical region of Samogitia. It has a population of 8,206 and is the administrative center of the Kelmė district municipality. History Kelmė's name may come from the Lithuanian ''kelmynės'' ...

History

Kelmė's name may come from the Lithuanian ''kelmynės'', literally: ''the stubby place'', because of the forests that were there at the time of its founding. Kelmė was first mentioned in 1416, the year that Kelmė's first church was built. Prior to World War II, Kelmė ( yi, Kelm) was home to a famous Rabbinical College, the

Kelm Talmud Torah The Kelm Talmud Torah was a famous yeshiva in pre-holocaust Kelmė, Lithuania. Unlike other yeshivas, the Talmud Torah focused primarily on the study of Musar ("Jewish ethics") and self-improvement. Under the Leadership of Simcha Zissel Ziv The ...

. According to an 1897 census, 2,710 of Kelme's 3,914 inhabitants were members of the town's Jewish population, the vast majority of whom were merchants and traders and lived in the town. Most of the Jews in Kelmė rural district were murdered during a mass execution on July 29, 1941. On August 22 a second mass execution occurred. On October 2, 1941, some Kelmė and Vaiguva Jews were murdered in

Žagarė Žagarė (, see also other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žag ...

. The executions were committed by Lithuanians nazis, auxiliary police and Germans soldiers. In total, the number of victims is 1250-1300 people.

Gallery

Kelme manor.jpg,

Kelmė Manor Kelmė Manor is a former residential manor in Kelmė, Lithuania. Currently it is occupied by Kelmė Regional Museum. Of the nine buildings on the 15.2 hectare estate, three are used for the display of museum artifacts. History The Kelmė E ...

, dates to the 15th century Kelmes dvaras vartai 2013 IMG 7139.jpg, Kelmė Manor gates and church in the distance Kelmes evangeliku baznycia.jpg, Evangelical Reformed Church, built in 1615 Kelme.JPG,

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Kelmės gimnazija 1.JPG, Kelmė Jonas Graičiūnas Gymnasium Kelmė, savivaldybė.JPG, Municipality building

People

Aryeh Leib Frumkin Aryeh Leib Frumkin ( he, אריה ליב פרומקין; 1845–1916)Frumkin Foundation Accessed 17 Oct. 2008 was a rabbi, Zionist, a founder and pioneer of Petah Tikva,Jewish Virtual LibraryRabbi Aryeh Leib Frumkin Accessed 17 Oct. 2008 the firs ...

(1845–1916), Rabbi * Bronius Laucevičius-Vargšas (1884–1916), writer *

Antanas Mackevičius Antanas Mackevičius ( pl, Antoni Mackiewicz; 26 June 1828 – 28 December 1863) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders o ...

(1828–1863), Roman Catholic priest involved in

Uprising of 1863 The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

Icchokas Meras Icchokas Meras (8 October 1934 – 13 March 2014) was a Lithuanian writer. Biography Meras was born in 1934 to Jehuda and Miriam Meras in a Jewish family in Kelmė, Lithuania, which contained one of the country's notable Jewish communities. Hi ...

(1934–2014), writer *

Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim ( he, צבי יעקב אופנהיים; 1854-1926) was Chief Rabbi of Kelm, Lithuania, and one of the founders of the Telz Yeshiva. Biography Rabbi Oppenheim was born in 1854 in the small village of Yakubowe (now Jokūbavas, ...

(1883–1926), Rabbi *

Simcha Zissel Ziv Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida ( he, שמחה זיסל זיו; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or the ''Alter of Kelm'' (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar mo ...

(1824–1898), the Alter of Kelm

Twin towns

Kelmė is twinned with:

References

External links

Official site of Kelmė district municipality
Cities in Lithuania Cities in Šiauliai County Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Rossiyensky Uyezd Shtetls Holocaust locations in Lithuania Kelmė District Municipality {{ŠiauliaiCounty-geo-stub