Žeimelis is a

small town "Small Town" is a 1985 song written by John Mellencamp and released on his 1985 album ''Scarecrow''. The song reached #6 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and #13 Adult Contemporary. Content Mellencamp wrote the song about his experiences ...

in northern Lithuania, 40 km to the north from Pakruojis, near 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 is a centre of an elderate. According to a census in 2011, Žeimelis had 953 residents. Town of Žeimelis is a state-protected urbanistic monument. The town of Žeimelis has a Gothic town square with inns from the 18th and 19th centuries; the inns were adjusted for defensive needs as well. Žeimelis has museum of

Semigallia Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...

History

The lands were inhabited by the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

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 ...

. Žeimelis manor was first mentioned in 1500. In 1542 Žeimelis was known as a town. In 1592–1674 school of reformats was operating. Since the 17th century Žeimelis was a place of big markets. Field Marshal

Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (german: Fürst Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly; baptised – ) was an Imperial Russian soldier of Baltic German and Scottish origin, who was commander-in-chief and Minister of War of the Russian Empire ...

was baptized in the Lutheran church on December 27, 1761. High school was established in 1920. Agriculture school founded in 1937. In August 1941, a total of 160 Jews from Žeimelis were murdered by an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

. The mass execution was perpetrated by Germans and local collaborators. After the Soviet occupation,

Lithuanian partisans The Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged a guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet ru ...

from

Prisikėlimas military district Prisikėlimas (''Resurrection'') military district - was a military district of Lithuanian partisans which comprised Šiauliai, Joniškis, partially - Kėdainiai, Panevėžys and Raseiniai counties. Leaders Structure of Lithuanian partis ...

were active in Žeimelis and its surroundings.

Famous people

Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one of ...

, chief rabbi of Palestine, and philosopher of religious Zionism. * Liebegott Otto Conrad Schultz (1772 - 1840) * Theodor Grotthuss, the originator of the first law of photochemistry, author of the first theory of electrolysis * Juozas Šliavas, historian *

Julius Juzeliūnas The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the c ...

, composer

References

External links

Žeimelis Žiemgalos Museum
Towns in Lithuania Towns in Šiauliai County Ponevezhsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania Pakruojis District Municipality {{ŠiauliaiCounty-geo-stub