Žagarė (, see also

other names Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), ...

) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern

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 ...

, close to the border with

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žagarė is famous for ''Žagarvyšnė'' - a cherry species originated in Žagarė.

Etymology

Žagarė's name is probably derived from the Lithuanian word ''žagaras,'' meaning "twig". Other renderings of the name include: lv, Žagare, pl, Żagory, yi, זאַגער, translit=Zager.

History

The foundation of Žagarė dates back to the 12th century. A settlement of the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

tribe

Semigallians Semigallians ( Latvian ''Zemgaļi''; lt, Žiemgaliai, also ''Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians'') were the Baltic tribe that lived in the southcentral part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance ...

''Sagera'' was mentioned for the first time in March 1254 in the documents of the partitioning of the

Semigallia Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...

. In 13th century it was a Semigalian fortress ''Raktuvė'' (or ''Raktė'', first mentioned in 1272-1289 documents). It was an important centre of Semigallian warriors, who fought against the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword german: Schwertbrüderordenfrench: Ordre des Chevaliers Porte-Glaive , image= , caption= , dates=1204–1237 , country= Terra Mariana , allegiance= Catholic Church , garrison= Wenden (Cēsis), Fellin (Viljandi), Segewold (Sigulda). Aschera ...

and 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 ...

. The cult of

Barbora Žagarietė Barbora of Žagarė (1628 – ) was a Roman Catholic Servant of God from Žagarė, then Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to oral history, Barbora distinguished herself by her Christian virtues and died young under obscure circumstances. Her r ...

servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

, originated in the town in mid-1600s. It long had a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

population that contributed to its culture.

Yisroel Salanter Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. ...

(1810–1883), the father of the 19th-century

Mussar movement The Musar movement (also Mussar movement) is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Lithuania, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term (), is adopted from the Book of Proverbs (1 ...

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

, was born there.

Isaak Kikoin Isaak Konstantinovich (Kushelevich) Kikoin (; 28 March 1908 – 28 December 28, 1984), , was a Soviet physicist of Lithuanian origin and an author of physics textbooks in Russian language who played an important role in the former Soviet program ...

(1908–1984), a renowned

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, was also born there. The Jewish quarter in Žagarė was among those damaged in 1881 as part of the violence against Jews that occurred during the pogroms in southern Russia. On 22 August 1941, on the orders of the Šiauliai Gebietskommissar Hans Gewecke, all half-Jews and Jews in the district were to be moved to Žagarė ghetto. The Jews were allowed only to take clothing and at most 200 Reichsmark. Many Jews were shot on the spot instead of being sent to the ghetto.Shafir, Michael. "Ideology, memory and religion in post-communist East Central Europe: a comparative study focused on post-Holocaust." Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 15.44 (2016): 52-110
/ref> In a massacre committed by

Einsatzgruppe A (, ; 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 ...

on 2 October 1941, the date of

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

that year, all Jews were killed at the marketplace and buried in Naryshkin Park. Today Žagarė is the administrative centre of the Žagarė Regional Park, known for its valuable urban and natural heritage. Once one of the largest cities in Lithuania (in the 1900s the number of city inhabitants exceeded 10 thousand), it preserved valuable urban complexes – trade square, side street network with early 20th century brick buildings, two churches,

Žagarė manor Žagarė Manor is a former residence of Prince Platon Zubov 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, d ...

with park, former early 20 c. cinema building and other valuable urban artefacts.

Notable residents

* Juozas Žlabys-Žengė, Lithuanian poet * Vaclovas Daunoras, prominent Lithuanian opera soloist. * Louis Bookman *

Sidney Hillman Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...

Phoebus Levene Phoebus Aaron Theodore Levene (25 February 1869 – 6 September 1940) was a Russian born American biochemist who studied the structure and function of nucleic acids. He characterized the different forms of nucleic acid, DNA from RNA, and fo ...

Paul Mandelstamm Paul Mandelstamm ( lv, Pauls Mandelštams; – 1941) was a Baltic German-Jewish architect, working mainly in present-day Latvia. Biography Paul Mandelstamm was born in Kovno Governorate in present-day Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire) ...

*Kalonimus Wolf Wissotzky. Founder of

Wissotzky Tea Wissotzky Tea ( he, תה ויסוצקי) is an international, family-owned tea company based in Israel with offices in London and the United States. It is the leading tea distributor in Israel. Founded in 1849 in Moscow, Russia, it became the large ...

Sarah Millin Sarah Gertrude Millin, née Liebson (19 March 1889 – 6 July 1968), was a South African author. Biography Millin was born in Žagarė, Kovno Governorate on 19 March 1889, was one of a family of seven children. Five months later her parents, I ...

, South African author

Twin towns – sister cities

Žagarė is a member of the ''Charter of European Rural Communities'', a

town twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

association across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, alongside with: * Bienvenida, Spain * Bièvre, Belgium *

Bucine Bucine is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about west of Arezzo. Subdivision Bucine borders the following municipalities: Castelnuovo Berardenga, Civit ...

, Italy * Cashel, Ireland * Cissé, France *

Desborough Desborough is a town in Northamptonshire, England, lying in the Ise Valley between Market Harborough and Kettering. It was an industrial centre for weaving and shoe-making in the 19th century and had a long association with the Co-operative ...

, England, United Kingdom * Esch, Netherlands *

Hepstedt Hepstedt is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Hepstedt belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, established in 1180. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen, which was ...

, Germany * Ibănești, Romania *

Kandava Kandava (; german: Kandau; liv, Kāndav) is a town in Tukums Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. It had a population of 3,656 people as of January 2020. History Livonian Crusade Territory of the modern Kandava was inhabited by Finn ...

, Latvia *

Kannus Kannus is a town and municipality of Finland. It is situated in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of , of which is water. The population den ...

, Finland *

Kolindros Kolindros ( el, Κολινδρός) is a town and a former municipality in Pieria regional unit, in Central Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality Pydna-Kolindros, of which it is a municipal ...

, Greece *

Lassee Lassee is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the nor ...

, Austria *

Medzev Medzev ( hu, Mecenzéf), also known as Metzenseifen (particularly to Americans and the native German-speaking community) is a town and large municipality in Košice-okolie District in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. It is one of several to ...

, Slovakia * Moravče, Slovenia *

Næstved Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the fou ...

, Denmark *

Nagycenk Nagycenk is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to t ...

, Hungary *

Nadur Nadur ( mt, In-Nadur) is an administrative unit of Malta, located in the eastern part of the island of Gozo. Nadur is built on a plateauand is one of the largest localities in Gozo. Known as the 'second city', it spreads along a high ridge to ...

, Malta *

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, Sweden *

Pano Lefkara Pano Lefkara ( el, Πάνω Λεύκαρα) is a village on the island of Cyprus famous for its lace, known as lefkaritika in (Greek: λευκαρίτικα) and silver handicrafts. The village takes its name from the white of its silica and lime ...

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, Estonia *

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

, Portugal *

Slivo Pole Slivo Pole ( bg, Сливо поле, ) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Rousse Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Slivo Pole Municipality, which lies in the northeastern part of the Province. The town is locate ...

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Tisno Tisno is a town and municipality in Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. Etymology Tisno was named after the Croatian ikavian word ''tisno'' which means strait, which describes its location at the narrow strait separating the island of Murter from th ...

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Troisvierges Troisvierges (; lb, Ëlwen ; german: Ulflingen) is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg, in the canton of Clervaux. The two highest hills in Luxembourg, the Kneiff (560 m) and Buurgplaatz (559 m), are located in the commune. , the town of ...

, Luxembourg

References

External links