Kelmė (; ;

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

: קעלם) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in northwestern

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 ...

, a historical region of

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

. It has a population of 8,206 and is the administrative center of the

Kelmė District Municipality Kelmė (; ; Yiddish: קעלם) 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. Name Kelmė's name is likely derived from t ...

Name

Kelmė's name is likely derived from the Lithuanian word ''kelmynės'', literally: ''the stubby place'', because of the forests that were there at the time of its founding. The

name is Kelm, as in Kelm Talmud Torah.

History

Kelmė was first mentioned in 1416, the year that Kelmė's first church was built. It was located in the

Duchy of Samogitia The Duchy of Samogitia (, , ) was an administrative unit of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1422 (and from 1569, a member country of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). Between 1422 and 1441 it was known as the Eldership of Samogitia. Si ...

in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

within the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. Prior to

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 ...

, Kelmė () was home to a famous Rabbinical College, the Kelm Talmud Torah. 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 29 July 1941. On August 22 a second mass execution occurred. On 2 October 1941, some Kelmė and Vaiguva Jews were murdered in

Žagarė Žagarė (, see also #Etymology, 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, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lith ...

. The executions were committed by the Germans soldiers, auxiliary police and Lithuanian collaborators. In total, the number of victims is 1,250-1,300 people.

Gallery

Kelme manor.jpg, Kelmė Manor, 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Kelmės gimnazija 1.JPG, Kelmė Jonas Graičiūnas Gymnasium Kelmė, savivaldybė.JPG, Municipality building

People

* Aryeh Leib Frumkin (1845–1916), Rabbi * Bronius Laucevičius-Vargšas (1884–1916), writer *

Antanas Mackevičius Antanas Mackevičius (; 26 June 1828 – 28 December 1863) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest who was one of the leaders and initiators of the January Uprising in Lithuania. Mackevičius was born to a family of Petty nobility, ...

(1828–1863), Roman Catholic priest involved in

Uprising of 1863 The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last in ...

Icchokas Meras Icchokas Meras (8 October 1934 – 13 March 2014) was a Lithuanian Jews, 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 ...

(1934–2014), writer *

Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim (; 1854–1926) was Chief Rabbi of Kelm, Lithuania, and one of the founders of the Telz Yeshiva. Biography Rabbi Oppenheim was born in 1854 in the small village of Yakubowe (now Jokūbavas, Kretinga district, Lithuania). He ...

(1883–1926), Rabbi *

Simcha Zissel Ziv Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida (; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or the ''Alter of Kelm'' (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar movement. He is best known as ...

(1824–1898), the Alter of Kelm

References

External links

Official site of Kelmė district municipality
Cities in Lithuania Cities in Šiauliai County Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Rossiyensky Uyezd Historic Jewish communities in Lithuania Holocaust locations in Lithuania Kelmė District Municipality {{ŠiauliaiCounty-geo-stub