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Kelmė

This article is about the town in Lithuania. For other uses, see Kelme (disambiguation).

Kelmė
City
Church of Kelmė
Church of Kelmė
Flag of Kelmė
Flag
Coat of arms of Kelmė
Coat of arms
Kelmė is located in Lithuania
Kelmė
Kelmė
Location of Kelmė
Coordinates: 55°38′0″N 22°56′0″E / 55.63333°N 22.93333°E / 55.63333; 22.93333
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
 • Total
7.85 km2 (3.03 sq mi)
Elevation
128 m (420 ft)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
7,544
 • Density960/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Websitekelme.lt

Kelmė (pronunciationⓘ; Polish: Kielmy; 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 the Lithuanian word kelmynės, literally: the stubby place, because of the forests that were there at the time of its founding.[1][2] The Yiddish name is Kelm, as in Kelm Talmud Torah.

History

Kelmė was first mentioned in 1416, the year that Kelmė's first church was built.[2] It was located in the Duchy of Samogitia in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

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 29 July 1941. On August 22 a second mass execution occurred. On 2 October 1941, some Kelmė and Vaiguva Jews were murdered in Žagarė. The executions were committed by the Germans soldiers, auxiliary police and Lithuanian collaborators.[3] In total, the number of victims is 1,250-1,300 people.

People

References

  1. ^ "Lietuvos miestų pavadinimų kilmė – tik upės ir pavardės?" [The origin of Lithuanian city names - only rivers and surnames?]. Delfi (in Lithuanian). 28 January 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Kelmė". Kelmė. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
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