Seredžius

Seredžius
Town
Coat of arms
Seredžius Location of Seredžius
Coordinates: 55°5′N 23°25′E / 55.083°N 23.417°ECoordinates: 55°5′N 23°25′E / 55.083°N 23.417°E
Country	Lithuania
Ethnographic region	Samogitia
County	Tauragė County
Municipality	Jurbarkas district municipality
Eldership	Seredžius eldership
Capital of	Seredžius eldership
Population (2001)
• Total	749
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Seredžius (see other #Names) is a town in Lithuania on the right bank of the Neman River near its confluence with the Dubysa River. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 749.^[1]

Names

The Yiddish name for the city was סרעדניק (Srednik), corresponding to the Polish Średniki and Russian Средники (Sredniki). In local Samogitian dialect the town is known as Seredius. Other recorded forms of the town's name include Srednike, Seredzhyus, Seredzhus and Seredius. The name Seredžius is believed to be derived from середа (sereda), a word meaning "Wednesday" in many Slavic languages. This is probably because of the markets held there on Wednesday.

History

View of Seredžius with Palemon Hill in the background

Southeast of the town, archaeologists discovered graves from the 3rd–4th centuries.^[2] According to the Palemonids legend, noble refugees from the Roman Empire settled on the hill, now named after Palemon, and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.^[3] The town has a large hillfort where Pieštvė fortress stood during the Lithuanian Crusade. It was attacked by the Teutonic Knights numerous times in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.^[2] After the Battle of Grunwald, the location lost its military purpose and became private property of the Sapieha family.

The Sapiehas built a residential palace, which did not survive. The town's first Catholic church was built around 1608–12.^[2] The church was destroyed in 1829 after a landslide caused by extensive flooding. The residents built a wooden church, which was replaced by a Neo-Renaissance church dedicated to John the Baptist in 1913.

The town had a large Jewish population prior to World War II. In 1900 (when part of the Russian Empire) the town's Jewish population numbered 1,174.^[4] Seredžius was the birthplace of the American singer, comedian, and actor Al Jolson, born into the town's Jewish community in 1886 as Asa Yoelson.^[5] The town's Jews were killed on September 4, 1941. On that day, 193 people were shot near the village of Skrebėnai: 6 men, 61 women and 126 children.^[6]

References

1. Tauragės apskrities kaimo gyvenamosios vietovės ir jų gyventojai (PDF) (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. 2003. p. 33. ISBN 9986-589-95-9.
2. Kviklys, Bronius (1965). Mūsų Lietuva (in Lithuanian). II. Boston: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. pp. 333–336. OCLC 3303503.
3. Ivinskis, Zenonas (1953–1966). "Palemonas". Lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). 21. Boston: Lietuvių enciklopedijos leidykla. pp. 400–401. LCC 55020366.
4. JewishGen Seredžius page
5. David Spiller, "Great Singers of the Twentieth Century", Lulu.com, 2008
6. http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page//item/135/