Papilė ( sgs, Papėlė, pl, Popielany) is a town in
Šiauliai County,
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 ...
, near the river
Venta Venta may refer to:
Architecture
*Venta (establishment), a Spanish typical inn generally located in unpopulated and remote rural areas.
Places
*Venta (river), a river in Lithuania and Latvia
*Venta (city), a city in Lithuania
*Venta (village), a v ...
.
History
The settlement was first mentioned in 1339, after the area was raided by the
Livonian Order
The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order,
formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation.
History
The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after the ...
. Two
hill-forts
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
have been preserved since this time.
After Christianization of Samogitia, the settlement belonged to the Samogitian bishop, and the first church was built here in 1493. Since 1600 it was known as a town. In 1703 the town was granted the privilege to hold a market-place.
On July 22, 1941, A total of 40 Jewish men were killed by an
Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
of 20 Lithuanian policemen and white armbanders (Lithuanian nationalists). Following the slaughter of the Jews, several Soviet supporters were brought to the murder site and killed making a total of 55 people massacred. The remains of the victims have been moved to the Papilė cemetery.
Famous people
The anarchist
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
lived in the town for a short time as a child, when her father operated an inn here. In Papilė she became close friends with a servant of a family named Petrushka. While in Papilė, she witnessed a "half-naked human body being lashed with a
knout";
[Goldman, Emma. ''Living My Life''. 1931. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1970. .] this experience terrified her and contributed to her lifelong distaste for violent authority.
Papilė is also the location where
Simonas Daukantas, the writer and historian, is buried.
Papilė is the birthplace of Abraham William Briscoe (1850-1917), who became a prominent businessman in Ireland. Abraham's son,
Robert Briscoe (1894-1969), was an Irish revolutionary leader and legislator. Robert was the first Jew to serve as Lord Mayor of Dublin (1956-1957 and 1961–1962). Upon hearing that Dublin had elected a Jew as its mayor, the legendary American baseball player Yogi Berra famously quipped, "Only in America." Robert's son Ben (Abraham's grandson) also served as Lord Mayor of Dublin (1988-1989).
Ahron Dovid Burack Ahron Dovid Burack (also known as Aaron David or Ahron David; he, אהרן דוד בוראק; 16 May 1892 – 7 October 1960) was a Lithuanian-American rabbi and rosh yeshivah.
Early life and education
Ahron Dovid Burack was born in Popelan (now ...
, who became a prominent Orthodox rabbi and
yeshiva leader in the United States, was born in Papilė in the early 1890s.
Papilė points of interest
Image:Simonas Daukantas grave.jpg, Grave of Simonas Daukantas
Image:Simonas Daukantas memorial museum.jpg, Simonas Daukantas Memorial Museum
Image:Papile Church.jpg, Papilė Church
Notes
Akmenė District Municipality
Towns in Lithuania
Towns in Šiauliai County
Shavelsky Uyezd
Holocaust locations in Lithuania
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