Kelmė

Kelmė (pronunciation ; 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.

Kelmė
City
Church of Kelmė
Flag
Coat of arms
Kelmė
Location of Kelmė
Coordinates: 55°38′0″N 22°56′0″E
Country Lithuania
Ethnographic regionSamogitia
CountyŠiauliai County
MunicipalityKelmė district municipality
EldershipKelmė eldership
Capital ofKelmė district municipality
Kelmė eldership
First mentioned1484
Granted city rights1947
Government
 • MayorVaclovas Andrulis
Area
 • Total7.85 km2 (3.03 sq mi)
Elevation
128 m (420 ft)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total8.245
 • Density1.1/km2 (2.7/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
WebsiteOfficial website

History

Kelmė's name may come from the Lithuanian "Kelmynės", literally "the stubby place" because of the forests that were there at the time of its founding.[1]

Kelmė was first mentioned in 1416, the year that Kelmė's first church was built.[1]

Prior to World War II, Kelmė (Yiddish: Kelm‎) 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 July 29, 1941. On August 22 a second mass execution occurred. On October 2, 1941, some Kelmė and Vaiguva Jews were murdered in Žagarė. The executions were committed by Lithuanians nazis, auxiliary police and Germans soldiers.[2] In total, the number of victims is 1250-1300 people.

People

Twin towns

Kelmė is twinned with:

City COA Country
Biłgoraj Poland
Hódmezővásárhely Hungary
gollark: That is what is causing the crahes.
gollark: The shield generator.
gollark: I estimate that the power supply for it will fail by maybe tomorrow.
gollark: Well, not crash, be booted off.
gollark: Oh, you would just crash too.

References
  1. "Kelmė". Kelmė. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  2. http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search/vcntfr=1000.vcntto=5000/page/3/item/216/


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.