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. 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 Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

''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. 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 (1845–1916), Rabbi *

Bronius Laucevičius-Vargšas Bronius is a Lithuanian masculine given name. It is a shortened name of Bronislovas. Notable people with that name include: *Bronius Kutavičius (1932–2021), Lithuanian composer *Bronius Kuzmickas (born 1935), Lithuanian politician and philosop ...

(1884–1916), writer * Antanas Mackevičius (1828–1863), Roman Catholic priest involved in Uprising of 1863 *

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 (1883–1926), Rabbi * Simcha Zissel Ziv (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