Žiežmariai (Zhizhmory, Zysmory) is a town ca. 30 km east of Kaunas. In World War One, it was passed through by units of Korps Litzmann in late August 1915 during the German offensive to take Vilnius, which fell on September 18.
When the Red Army followed in the footsteps of the German withdrawal from Russia at the end of 1918, one of its vanguards was stopped in the vicinity of Žiežmariai in early January 1919. This sector was defended by the 18th Saxonian Volunteers Regiment, later partly and by June 1919 fully replaced by Lithuanian troops.
During the Polish military expansion into Lithuania and Byelorussia in the summer of 1919, stimulated by Marshall Pilsudski’s vision of a greater, confederated Poland, Žiežmariai and its district was very close to the front line and was raided by Polish troops. The implementation of a Line of Demarcation, by late 1920, left Žiežmariai securely on the Lithuanian side.
In czarist times, Žiežmariai had had a post office (Zhizhmory) but none during the German occupation. To establish a Lithuanian post office a mandate was given to Petras Razanavičius, effective from April 1, 1919. Due to the front line’s proximity it is not certain when the post office did in fact open. As of May 1, 1920 Petras Razanavičius was transferred to Kaišiadorys and replaced by Zigmas Malašauskas. The latter retired and was replaced as postmaster on January 26, 1921 by Vincas Aksomaitis from Jeznas.
For stamps, Ziezmariai had Third Kaunas Issue, then Fourth Berlin, followed by the Sėjėjas Issue etc.
At least for a a few months cancelling was done in handwriting, indicating date and place (spelled Žiežmarei). No other provisional markings are known.
A regular calendar-type postmarker was supplied in 1921 or earlier.
Known provisional markings:
Cancelling in MS (spelling Žiežmarei):
no date, single, Kaunas III 10 [colln. Brazdeikis]
23 / IV [1919] cover to Kaunas, Berlin IV 30 x3 [reported by Norton]
9 / VII [1919] cover to Šilalė, Berlin 15 x2 [colln. Bubnys]
31 / VII [1919] cover to Šilalė, Berlin IV 30 [colln. Bubnys]
2 / VIII [1919] cover to Šilalė, Berlin IV 15 x2 [colln. Doniela]