The foundation of Žagarė dates back to the 12th century. A settlement of the
Baltic tribe
Semigallians 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 and the
Livonian Order. The cult of
Barbora Žagarietė,
servant of God, originated in the town in mid-1600s. It long had a
Jewish population that 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. 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. During
World War II, the town was under Soviet occupation from 1940, and then under
German occupation from 1941 to 1944. On 22 August 1941, on the orders of Šiauliai Gebietskommissar
Hans Gewecke, all half-Jews and Jews in the district were to be moved to Žagarė
ghetto (around 500 people). 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. In a massacre committed by
Einsatzgruppe A on 2 October 1941, the date of
Yom Kippur that year, all Jews were killed at the marketplace and buried in
Naryshkin 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 town 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==