Rozalimas belongs to the so-called younger villages of Lithuania.

Red star = Rozalimas

There is a legend connected with Rozalimas: Once Adamas Drabiskius and his wife, both landowners in the district of Pakruojis, went for a ride. They wanted to find a place where they could build a church. Suddenly their horses fell down on their knees on a certain spot. They didn't pay attention to it. The next day, when they went out riding again, they saw on excactly the same spot a deer with very big antlers. Then they understood that they had to built a church on that spot. Drabiskius' wife's name was Rozalija Drabiskius, and he named the village after Rozalija, in honour of his wife.

In 1930 there was a big fire which destroyed the wooden houses in the centre of Rozalimas (see map Rozalimas, appendix A). In the years before 1941, one could find a milk-factory, farmers and merchants  in Rozalimas. There were teachers, a doctor and a  pharmacist in the village. In Rozalimas market day was held on a Monday. Twice a year people organised a fair. There were lots of clubs in those days. I will mention some of them here :

(1) the Firemen Organization (for all ages), an organization respected and honoured by the people of Rozalimas. The firemen had their own flag, uniforms and festivals.

(2) The Shooting Club, which regularly held demonstrations in Rozalimas.

(3) The Women Club which took care of deprived people

(4) The so-called Spring People Club which held lectures.

One of the sports young people liked very much, in those days, was football. There was a choir and a string orchestra (e.g. violins).

A tradition, kept for a long time in Rozalimas, was to grow roses in people’s gardens as a reference to the name Rozalija - Rozalimas.

When Jewish families first started settling in Rozalimas, is unknown to me, but it appears to be from the 19th century onwards.

The first mentioning of numbers of Jews in Rozalimas dates from 1839. Out of a population of 222 there were 110 Jews.

In 1868 : 142 Jews out of 289 citizens.

In 1897 : 265 Jews out of 549.

In 1937 : 74 Jews out of 674.

The percentage of Jews fell from + 50 % to +11 %  which is a drastic change! Later on in this booklet I will try to explain the cause of this (Chapter IV)

The Jewish community had had a wooden synagogue built and a mikwe (a ritual bathhouse), and it had had a cemetery laid out. There also was a Jewish school.

Most of the Jewish population earned a living by shop keeping and by trading. One local cafe had a Jewish owner and the pharmacy belonged to a Jewish pharmacist whose husband happened to be a doctor. The Jewish families who lived in Rozalimas after the big fire in 1930 and before the great tragedy on 4 August 1941 lived peacefully with their non-Jewish neighbours. There was some sense of integration e.g. going out dancing together, participating in the fire brigade and in the district council. There were 18 Jewish families living in Rozalimas before 1941.