Kelmė | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Church of Kelmė | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Kelmė Location of Kelmė | |
| Coordinates:55°38′0″N22°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 (2021) | |
• Total | 7,544 |
| • Density | 961/km2 (2,490/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Website | kelme |
Kelmė (pronunciationⓘ;Polish:Kielmy;Yiddish:קעלם,romanized: Kelm) is acity in northwesternLithuania, a historical region ofSamogitia. It has a population of 8,206 and is the administrative center of theKelmė District Municipality.
Kelmė's name is likely derived from theLithuanian wordkelmynės, literally:the stubby place, because of the forests that were there at the time of its founding.[1][2] TheYiddish name is Kelm, as inKelm Talmud Torah.
Kelmė was first mentioned in 1416, the year that Kelmė's first church was built.[2] It was located in theDuchy of Samogitia in theGrand Duchy of Lithuania within thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Prior toWorld War II, Kelmė (Yiddish:Kelm) was home to a famousRabbinical College, theKelm 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 andVaiguva Jews were murdered inŽagarė. 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.
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