Žiežmariai () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Kaišiadorys district municipality Kaišiadorys District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located south of

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 ...

. The center of Žiežmariai is a state-protected urbanistic monument.

History

Žiežmariai were mentioned for the first time in the 14th century in the Teutonic '' Die Littauischen Wegeberichte''. In 1348 close to Žiežmariai by the river of

Strėva The Strėva () is a river in Trakai and Kaunas district municipalities, Lithuania. In 1348, the Battle of Strėva between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights was fought on the frozen river. In 1962, the river was impounded to cr ...

, the

Battle of Strėva The Battle of Strėva, Strebe, or Strawe was fought on 2 February 1348 between the Teutonic Order and the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the banks of the Strėva River, a right tributary of the Neman River, near present-day Žiežmariai. Chro ...

between the

Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Lithuan ...

led by

Algirdas Algirdas (; , ; – May 1377) was List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the pre ...

and

Kęstutis Kęstutis ( – 3 or 15 August 1382) was sole Duke of Trakai from 1342 to 1382 and List of Lithuanian monarchs, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1342 to 1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila (from 1377 to ...

and the Teutonic Army took place. Since 15th century Žiežmariai estate is known, in 1487 Žiežmariai town is mentioned. In 1508 or 1509 a Catcholic church was built, and the school was established in 1520. In 1576 and in 1791 Žiežmariai received

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 the coat of arms in 1792. During the 16th century Žiežmariai started to grow intensively due to their proximity to the road Vilnius-Kaunas. In 1580 the town suffered from fire two times. In the 18th century it was devastated by the Swedish army during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, plague epidemic started. In 1812, Žiežmariai was devastated by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's army during the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

. In 1777 the parish school was reestablished which taught singing in Latin and Lithuanian. 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 ...

Lithuanian army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Lithuan ...

stopped the advancing army of bolsheviks at the battle near Žiežmariai. The Jewish population was important in the town since the 16th century and represented 50% of the total population before World War II. In 1941, hundreds of Jews from the city and from nearby villages of Kaisiadorys and Žasliai were murdered in mass executions perpetrated 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 imp ...

of Germans and local collaborators. In 1941 and in 1948 Soviet occupation deported 20 inhabitants of Žiežmariai.

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 Žiežmariai district. Ziezmairu kulturos namai

Notable people

* Juozapotas Ignotas Lukaševičius (1789–1850), painter *

Kazys Morkūnas Kazys Morkūnas (c. 1925 – 2014) was a Lithuanian stained glass artist. He is considered a master of the form. He was a student of Stasys Ušinskas and along with fellow pupil Algimantas Stoskus they began creating new methods that in ...

(1924–2014), stained glass artist * Algimantas Aksomaitis (1936–2012), mathematician * Vytautas Onaitis (1939–1968), poet * Danguolė Rasalaitė (1983–2000), victim of human trafficking

References

External links

Žiežmariai

The murder of the Jews of Žiežmariai
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. Cities in Lithuania Cities in Kaunas County 1501 establishments in Europe Holocaust locations in Lithuania {{KaunasCounty-geo-stub