Žagarė (, see also other names) is a city located in the

Joniškis district Joniškis (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Juonėškis'') is a town in northern Lithuania with a population of about 9,900. It is located 39 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border. Joniškis i ...

, northern Lithuania, close to the border with

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žagarė is famous for ''Žagarvyšnė'' - a cherry species originated in Žagarė.

Etymology

Žagarė's name is probably derived from the Lithuanian word ''žagaras,'' meaning "twig". Other renderings of the name include: lv, Žagare, pl, Żagory, yi, זאַגער, translit=Zager.

History

The foundation of Žagarė dates back to the 12th century. A settlement of the Baltic tribe

Semigallians Semigallians ( Latvian ''Zemgaļi''; lt, Žiemgaliai, also ''Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians'') were the Baltic tribe that lived in the southcentral part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistan ...

''Sagera'' was mentioned for the first time in March 1254 in the documents of the partitioning of the Semigallia. In 13th century it was a Semigalian fortress ''Raktuvė'' (or ''Raktė'', first mentioned in 1272-1289 documents). It was an important centre of Semigallian warriors, who fought against the

Livonian Brothers of the Sword The Livonian Brothers of the Sword ( la, Fratres militiæ Christi Livoniae, german: Schwertbrüderorden) was a Catholic military order established in 1202 during the Livonian Crusade by Albert, the third bishop of Riga (or possibly by Theoderi ...

and the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after t ...

. The cult of Barbora Žagarietė, servant of God, originated in the town in mid-1600s. It long had a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

population that contributed to its culture.

Yisroel Salanter Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. T ...

(1810–1883), the father of the 19th-century Mussar movement in

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

, was born there. Isaak Kikoin (1908–1984), a renowned

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

, was also born there. The Jewish quarter in Žagarė was among those damaged in 1881 as part of the violence against Jews that occurred during the pogroms in southern Russia. On 22 August 1941, on the orders of the Šiauliai Gebietskommissar

Hans Gewecke Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

, all half-Jews and Jews in the district were to be moved to Žagarė ghetto. The Jews were allowed only to take clothing and at most 200 Reichsmark. Many Jews were shot on the spot instead of being sent to the ghetto.Shafir, Michael. "Ideology, memory and religion in post-communist East Central Europe: a comparative study focused on post-Holocaust." Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 15.44 (2016): 52-110
/ref> In a massacre committed by Einsatzgruppe A on 2 October 1941, the date of

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

that year, all Jews were killed at the marketplace and buried in

Naryshkin Naryshkin (Russian: ) is a Russian masculine surname, and its feminine counterpart is Naryshkina. The name may refer to: * Members of the noble Naryshkin family, including: ** Kirill Naryshkin (1623–1691), Russian boyar and maternal grandfather o ...

Park. Today Žagarė is the administrative centre of the Žagarė Regional Park, known for its valuable urban and natural heritage. Once one of the largest cities in Lithuania (in the 1900s the number of city inhabitants exceeded 10 thousand), it preserved valuable urban complexes – trade square, side street network with early 20th century brick buildings, two churches, Žagarė manor with park, former early 20 c. cinema building and other valuable urban artefacts.

Notable residents

* Juozas Žlabys-Žengė, Lithuanian poet * Vaclovas Daunoras, prominent Lithuanian opera soloist. *

Louis Bookman Louis "Abraham" Bookman (6 November 1890 – 10 June 1943) was an Irish sportsman of Lithuanian Jewish origin who represented Ireland in both football and cricket. Born the son of a rabbi in Lithuania, he arrived in Ireland in 1895 when his famil ...

* Sidney Hillman * Isaak Kikoin * Phoebus Levene * Paul Mandelstamm *

*Kalonimus Wolf Wissotzky. Founder of Wissotzky Tea * Barbora Žagarietė * Sarah Millin, South African author

Twin towns – sister cities

Žagarė is a member of the ''Charter of European Rural Communities'', a

town twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are ...

association across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, alongside with: * Bienvenida, Spain * Bièvre, Belgium * Bucine, Italy * Cashel, Ireland * Cissé, France * Desborough, England, United Kingdom * Esch, Netherlands * Hepstedt, Germany * Ibănești, Romania * Kandava, Latvia * Kannus, Finland * Kolindros, Greece * Lassee, Austria * Medzev, Slovakia * Moravče, Slovenia * Næstved, Denmark *

Nagycenk Nagycenk is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary. Places of interest * Saint Stephen's Church * Széchenyi Mansion * Széchenyi Mausoleum External links * in Hungarian, English and German Street map Populated places in G ...

, Hungary * Nadur, Malta *

Ockelbo Ockelbo is a locality and the seat of Ockelbo Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 2,724 inhabitants in 2010. The name Ockelbo, spelled ''De oklabo'' in 1314, contains an old marine name ''*Ukle'', referring to modern-day Lake Bysjön. The ...

, Sweden * Pano Lefkara, Cyprus * Põlva, Estonia * Samuel, Portugal * Slivo Pole, Bulgaria * Starý Poddvorov, Czech Republic * Strzyżów, Poland * Tisno, Croatia * Troisvierges, Luxembourg

References

External links