Žasliai (, ''Zosle'') is a small town in

Kaunas County Kaunas County () is one of ten counties of Lithuania. It is in the centre of the country, and its Capital (political), capital is Kaunas. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished. Symbols The county's coat of arms can be blazoned ...

in central

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. In 2011, it had a population of 644. The town was first mentioned in written sources in 1457 and was granted the

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; 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 cities and villages gr ...

and its own coat of arms in 1792.

History

Žasliai was first mentioned on 28 February 1457. During the reign of the

Grand Duke of Lithuania This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...

Vytautas Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...

, Žasliai belonged to Lithuanian nobleman Jaunius Valimantaitis from Valimantas family and later to noblemen from Goštautas family. In 1522 Žasliai was a town. In 16th century Žasliai was the property of the Grand Duke of Lithuania

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

who later donated it to his wife

Barbara Radziwiłł Barbara Radziwiłł (, ; 6 December 1520/23 – 8 May 1551) was List of Polish royal consorts, Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as consort of Sigismund II Augustus, the last male monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Barbara, a great b ...

. In the map ''Magni Ducatus Lituaniae caeterarumque regionum illi adiacentium exacta descriptio'' issued in 1613 by Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł, Žasliai was marked as a rural town. In 1777 operating parish school was mentioned. On 12 January 1792, Žasliai got Magdeburgian rights and the coat of arms with the inscription ''EX MANCIPIO LIBERTAS'' (''Freedom comes from property''). Žasliai were mentioned in the Lithuanian legend about

Palemonids The Palemonids () were a legendary dynasty of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The legend was born in the 15th or 16th century as proof that Lithuanians and the Grand Duchy were of Roman origins. History Jan Długosz (1415–1480) wrote that th ...

. After the death of Pajauta, mother of the Duke Kukovaitis, he created an idol for her an erected it near the lake of Žasliai. Inhabitants believed Pajauta was a goddess and worshiped her. After the idol perished, the place was worshipped. During the

Lithuanian Wars of Independence The Lithuanian Wars of Independence, also known as the Freedom Struggles (), refer to three wars Lithuania fought defending its independence at the end of World War I: with Bolshevik forces (December 1918 – August 1919), Bermontians (October ...

on 2–8 April 1919 the Žasliai battle was fought between Lithuanian and Soviet Russian armies. 1400 Lithuanian soldiers commanded by officers

Stasys Nastopka Stasys Nastopka (19 June 1881 – 19 October 1938) was a Lithuanian military officer during World War I and the Lithuanian Wars of Independence. Born into a Lithuanian peasant family, Nastopka graduated from Vilnius Military School and served in ...

Kazys Škirpa Kazys Škirpa (18 February 1895 – 18 August 1979) was a Lithuanian military officer and diplomat. He founded the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF), which attempted to establish Lithuanian independence in June 1941. Army career In World W ...

, Jurgis Butkus fought in the battle. In the middle of the nineteenth century, approximately 650 Jews resided in Žasliai. On the eve of the Soviet annexation of Lithuania in 1940, the roughly 1000 Jewish inhabitants of the town made up half of the total population, making a living from commerce, artisanship and agriculture. On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded Lithuania, entering Žasliai within days thereafter. On August 17 of 1941, most of the town's Jewish inhabitants were driven out to

Kaišiadorys Kaišiadorys (; Yiddish: קאָשעדאַר) 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 Transfiguration Cathedral, Kaišiadorys, Cathedral of ...

. Ten days later they were killed, along with Jews from Kaišiadorys and

Žiežmariai Žiežmariai () is a List of cities in Lithuania, town in the Kaišiadorys district municipality, Lithuania. It is located south of Kaišiadorys. The center of Žiežmariai is a state-protected urbanistic monument. History Žiežmariai were men ...

. Soviet occupants in 1941, 1948, 1949 deported 27 inhabitants of Žasliai.

Lithuanian partisans Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged 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 in E ...

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 ''Vilkme ...

(''The Great Fight partisan military district'') were active in Žasliai district. In 1975 in Žasliai train station the biggest railroad catastrophe in the history of Lithuania happened -

Žasliai railway disaster Žasliai railway disaster occurred on 4 April 1975 near Žasliai Žasliai (, ''Zosle'') is a small town in Kaunas County in central Lithuania. In 2011, it had a population of 644. The town was first mentioned in written sources in 1457 and wa ...

Notable people

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, born in what is now Lithuania to Jewish parents, who became an United States of America, American citizen in 1891. He ...

* Pranas Gudynas – Lithuanian painter, restaurator, art critic. * Benzion Halper – Hebraist and Arabist * Balys Mastauskas – lawyer. * – theater and film actor. * Edmundas Arbas-Arbačiauskas – Lithuanian architect. * Vincentas Sladkevičius – Lithuanian Cardinal

References

External links

Žasliai
(in Lithuanian)
Žaslių kautynės
Žasliai battle (in Lithuanian)
The murder of the Jews of Žasliai
during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zasliai Towns in Lithuania Towns in Kaunas County Holocaust locations in Lithuania