Seirijai is a small town in

Alytus County Alytus County ( lt, Alytaus apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the southernmost county, and its capital is the city of Alytus. Its territory lies within the ethnographic region of Dzūkija. On 1 July 2010, the county admini ...

in southern

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. In 2011 it had a population of 788.

Etymology

Seirijai toponym came from the lake ''Seirijis'', which got its name from the creek ''Seira'' name of which is of Dainavian dielect of Lithuanian language (from Lithuanian word "sūrus" meaning either salty or soured). Derivative names in other languages are - Polish: ''Sereje'', German: ''Serrey'', English sometimes "Serey"

History

The lands were inhabited by the

n tribe Dainavians. Due to the frequent raids and pillaging of

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, Dainavians moved to other parts of Lithuania abandoning the lands and Seirijai became a wilderness. From 1383 to 1398 Seirijai was in the

State of the Teutonic Order The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Cent ...

. After the defeat of Teutonic Order in the

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...

and the

Treaty of Melno The Treaty of Melno ( lt, Melno taika; pl, Pokój melneński) or Treaty of Lake Melno (german: Friede von Melnosee) was a peace treaty ending the Gollub War. It was signed on 27 September 1422, between the Teutonic Knights and an alliance of th ...

(1422), the land became populated again and started to grow economically. Since 16th century Serijai were known as a proprietary land of a ruler. King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...

donated Seirijai to Jurgis Radvila, and later it became a possession of Radvila family. Jurgis Radvila built a Catholic church in 1537. Already in 1564 the church was given to Calvinists, since many in Radvila family converted to

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. The tensions between Catholics and Calvinists lasted up to 1655 the Thirteen Years' War with Russia. Seirijai town was devastated and Calvinists retreated. From 1691 till 1793/1807 the district was a Prussian exclave in Poland-Lithuania (Preussisch Serrey). After that it was given by Napoleon to the Polish vassal-state of Warsaw. 1815 it became part of the Russian Imperium. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

almost all Seirijai was bombed by German army. On September 11, 1941, 953 Jews from Seirijai were murdered in the Baraučiškės Forest, including 229 men, 384 women and 340 children. The mass execution was perpetrated by Rollkommando Hamann ( lt, skrajojantis būrys, a small mobile unit that committed mass murders of

Lithuanian Jews Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent are ...

in the countryside across Lithuania in July–October 1941, with a death toll of at least 60,000 Jews.) / 1st Battalion 3rd Unit led by Norkus and Obelenis; Lithuanian Activists Front members from Seirijai In 2018 a monument was built in Seirijai for

Lithuanian partisans The Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged a guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule ...

, who fought against Soviet occupants. Seirijai belonged to Dainava partisans military district.

Economy

Company ''Seirijų žirgai'', which keeps and breeds

Trakehner Trakehner is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name. The state stud ( :de:Hauptgestüt Trakehnen) was established in 1731 a ...

horses.

Notable people

Alexander Ziskind Maimon Alexander Ziskind Maimon (July 18, 1809 - July 12, 1887) was a Lithuanian Jewish author and scholar of the Talmud and Mishnah. Maimon was born in Seirijai, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire to a family who claimed agnatic descent from Mai ...

(1809–1887) – Lithuanian Jewish author and scholar of the Talmud. *

Antanas Žmuidzinavičius Antanas Žmuidzinavičius ( pl, Antoni Żmujdzinowicz, 31 October 1876 – 9 August 1966) was a Lithuanian painter and art collector. Educated at the Veiveriai Teachers' Seminary, Žmuidzinavičius worked as a teacher while pursuing art educatio ...

(1876–1966) – Lithuanian painter. * Bronius Kazys Balutis (1880–1967) – Lithuanian diplomat. * Juozas Adomonis (g. 1932) – artist, ceramicist. * Vidas Kavaliauskas (g. 1965) – Lithuanian linguist.

References

Towns in Lithuania Towns in Alytus County Suwałki Governorate Holocaust locations in Lithuania {{AlytusCounty-geo-stub