Papilė () is a town in

Šiauliai County Šiauliai County () is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north of the country, and its capital is Šiauliai. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Šiauliai County remains as a territorial a ...

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 ...

, near the river Venta.

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 thei ...

. Two hill-forts have been preserved since this time. After the Christianization of Samogitia, the settlement belonged to the Samogitian bishop, and the first church was built here in 1493. Since 1600 it has been known as a town. In 1703 the town was granted the privilege to hold a marketplace. 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 imp ...

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 Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

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 A knout (, ) is a Russian whip that consists of a rawhide (material), rawhide thong or a rope attached to a long wooden handle. Commonly used for prodding horses or cattle, knouts were also used for flagellation as a corporal punishment in Russ ...

";Goldman, Emma. ''Living My Life''. 1931. New York:

Dover Publications Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...

Inc., 1970. . this experience terrified her and contributed to her lifelong distaste for violent authority. Papilė is also the location where

Simonas Daukantas Simonas Daukantas (; 28 October 1793 – 6 December 1864) was a Lithuanian/Samogitian historian, writer, and ethnographer. One of the pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival, he is credited as the author of the first book on the history of Li ...

, 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; ; 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 Papile) in Kovno Governora ...

, who became a prominent Orthodox rabbi and

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

leader in the United States, was born in Papilė in the early 1890s. Chatzkel Lemchen, subject of the documentary �
Uncle Chatzkel
��, was born in Papile in 1904. Samuel Gochin, grandfather of Holocaust activis
Grant Arthur Gochin
was born in Papile in 1902.

Papilė points of interest

Image:Simonas Daukantas grave.jpg, Grave of

Image:Simonas Daukantas memorial museum.jpg,

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 {{ŠiauliaiCounty-geo-stub