Posted on by elirab

Zagare

Zagare

I had visited Zagare a couple years ago, but it was late at night, the main street was being dug up,  so I didn’t see much.

This time, I was given an excellent tour thanks to Cliff Marks of Seattle introducing me to Sarah Mitrike.

Sarah was out of town but made sure I got to meet Alma Kancelskiene, the Geography teacher and Toma Kiminiene,  the English teacher at the Zagare High School.

Alma does projects with her students documenting Jewish graves together with Valdas Balciunas. Valdas was instrumental in getting the memorial plaque installed and organizing the Jewish Heritage Days last autumn. Valdas was also out of town.

The two teachers were very hospitable and showed me around town. Here are some images:

At the school with Alma and Toma

 
 

At the two cemeteries 

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The Holocaust MemorialDSC_4648DSC_4648DSC_4649DSC_4651

 

Around the town

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The Town Square

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My B&B hosts – Daiva and her mother Renovate Korsakiene and the yummy food.

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Other town viewsDSC_4705DSC_4705DSC_4706DSC_4707DSC_4708DSC_4709DSC_4710

 
 
 

The Zagare KehilaLink

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From Wikipedia

Žagarė
City
Zagares dvaras.2009-06-11.jpg
Coat of arms of Žagarė
Coat of arms
 

Names

Foreign renderings of the name include: Latvian: Žagare, Polish: Żagory, Yiddish: Zhagar זשאַגאַר.[1]

Etymology

Žagarė’s name is probably derived from the Lithuanian word žagaras, meaning “twig.” This is likely because of the forests that originally surrounded the early village.

History

The foundation of Žagarė dates back to the 12th century. It was an important centre of Semigallian warriors, who fought against the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Livonian Order. It long had a Jewish population who contributed to its culture.

Yisroel Salanter (1810-1883), the father of the 19th-century Mussar movement in Orthodox Judaism, was born there.Isaak Kikoin (1908–1984), a renowned Soviet physicist, was also born there. During World War II and the German occupation, the Germans set up a Jewish ghetto in Žagarė, to hold Jews from Šiauliai Ghetto. In a massacre of theEinsatzgruppe A at the Jom Kippur the 2nd. October 1941 all Jews where cruely killed by the lithuanian population at the marketplace and buried in Naryshkin Park. The blood was flowing to the Svete River and the Fire brigade had to wash it away. [2]

Geography

Today Žagarė is the administrative centre of the Žagarė Regional Park, known for its valuable urban and natural heritage.

Famous people

Literature

  • Rose Zwi: “Last Walk in Naryshkin Park” 1997 ISBN 978-1875559725 A Familie chronicle of her two families of origin Yoffe and Reisen. This account tells the story of Lithuanian Jews caught in the sweeping history of the first half of the century in Europe.
 

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