Kelmė

Kelmė
City

Church of Kelmė

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Coat of arms
Kelmė

Location of Kelmė

Coordinates: 55°38′0″N 22°56′0″E / 55.63333°N 22.93333°E / 55.63333; 22.93333Coordinates: 55°38′0″N 22°56′0″E / 55.63333°N 22.93333°E / 55.63333; 22.93333
Country  Lithuania
Ethnographic region Samogitia
County Šiauliai County
Municipality Kelmė district municipality
Eldership Kelmė eldership
Capital of Kelmė district municipality
Kelmė eldership
First mentioned 1484
Granted city rights 1947
Government
 • Mayor Vaclovas Andrulis
Area
 • Total 7.85 km2 (3.03 sq mi)
Elevation 128 m (420 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 9,150
 • Density 1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Website Official website
Kelmė church

Kelmė ( pronunciation ) is a city in northwestern Lithuania, a historical region of Samogitia. It has a population of 9,150 and is the administrative center of the Kelmė district municipality.

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 Poland
Hódmezővásárhely Hungary Hungary

References

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