Obeliai (; pl, Abele, yi, אבעל Abel) is
a small city in the
Rokiškis district municipality
Rokiškis District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.
Structure
District structure:
* 3 cities – Obeliai, Pandėlys and Rokiškis;
* 9 towns – Čedasai, Duokiškis, Juodupė, Jūžintai, Kamajai, Panemunėlis, ...
of
Panevėžys County
Panevėžys County ( lt, Panevėžio apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north-east of the country, and its capital is Panevėžys. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Panevė ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...
. At the foot of the town is one of the area's many lakes.
The town of Obeliai is small and quite poor, due in no small part to the diversion of the railway; the station remains but is no longer in use.
History
The arms of the town were granted on August 8, 1993. Obeliai was first mentioned in the 16th century and received city rights in 1957. The town did not use any arms until the above arms were designed in 1993. The blue bend symbolises the Kriauna River, the silver field, the Lake Obeliai. The three apple blossoms on the bend are canting (sloping), "obelis" meaning apple tree. Apples used to be a major export of Obeliai, with many orchards surrounding the town. This industry is all but gone now.
In August 1941, all the Jewish residents of Obeliai and the surrounding villages were taken into the Antanašė Forest by the Nazis, made to dig a long trench and then shot and buried. The
Jäger Report
The so-called Jäger Report, also Jaeger Report (full title: ''Complete tabulation of executions carried out in the Einsatzkommando 3 zone up to December 1, 1941'') was written on 1 December 1941 by Karl Jäger, commander of ''Einsatzkommando'' ...
stated that on August 25, 1941, a total of 1,160 Jews, consisting of 112 men, 627 women, and 421 children were killed.
Famous residents
*
Joe Slovo
Joe Slovo (born Yossel Mashel Slovo; 23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician, and an opponent of the apartheid system. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Pa ...
– South African
anti-apartheid activist
References
Shtetlinks ObeliaiInternational Civic Arms
Cities in Lithuania
Cities in Panevėžys County
Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd
Holocaust locations in Lithuania
{{PanevėžysCounty-geo-stub