Obeliai
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| Obeliai | |||
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  Obeliai
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Lithuania |
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| Ethnographic region | Aukštaitija | ||
| County | Panevėžys County | ||
| Municipality | Rokiškis district municipality | ||
| Elderate | Obeliai elderate | ||
| Capital of | Obeliai elderate | ||
| First mentioned | 1519 | ||
| Granted city rights | 1956 | ||
| Population (2005) | |||
| - Total | 1,335 | ||
| - Rank | 89 | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
Obeliai (pronunciation ) is a small town in the Rokiškis district municipality of Zarasai county, Lithuania. At the foot of the town is one of the area's many lakes.
This area of Lithuania is known as 'Little Switzerland' due to the beauty of the countryside and a large number of 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 nothing stops there any more. After the trains stopped coming, the town's people were known to surrounding villages as "the ghosts" due to the sudden impoverishment and isolation of the town and the financial and psychological depression this wrought on the inhabitants.
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 Antanase Forest by the Nazis, made to dig a long trench and then shot and buried. The official German army report states that on August 25, 1941, a total of 1,160 Jews, consisting of 112 men,627 women, and 421 children were killed. See: http://www.remember.org/docss.html.
Information taken with permission from Shtetlinks Obeliaiand International Civic Arms.
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