Sejny
Encyclopedia
Sejny ' is a town in north-eastern Poland
, in Podlaskie Voivodeship
, close to the border with Lithuania
and Belarus
. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area , on the Marycha
river, being a tributary of Czarna Hańcza. As of 1999 it had almost 6,500 permanent inhabitants, with many more inhabiting the area in the tourist season, and was the capital of a separate powiat
.
the area comprising modern Sejny was inhabited by the Yotvingians
, one of the Baltic tribes
that had arrived in the area in the first millennium. After the internal struggles of the 13th century, the area was subject to expansion from both Masovia and Lithuania
. As a result of the incursions
of the Teutonic Order, the area was almost entirely depopulated and only small remnants of the Yotvingian settlements remain presently. In 14th century the area was the scene of constant struggles between the Lithuanians and the Teutons and indeed the first written mention of the area where the town now lies dates back to 1385 and mentions an armed raid of the German knights from Merkinė
to Giżycko
.
After the Teutonic-Lithuanian border was established in 1422, the forests in the area started to be gradually repopulated. New roads were paved and one of them, leading from Berżniki
through what is now Sejny to Merkinė, became a notable trade route
. In 1510 Michał Pac became the governor of the area and founded the settlement of Berżniki. This started a period of fast development of previously Yotvingian lands. According to a legend, the town of Sejny was started by three of the old knights of King Władysław Jagiełło, who after the Battle of Grunwald
was to grant them with a land parcel in what is now Sejny. The three were very old and named the settlement accordingly Seni, which is Latin
and lithuanian word for Old Men. The name was then allegedly transferred into Sejny. However, there are no archaeological findings or documents that would back this legend up, and the name itself is Yotvingian
in origin. The linguist Jerzy Nalepa proposed that the nearby river name Sejna ( now Marycha
) and the city name are Yotvingian. Their Yotvingian nature is characterized by two features, (1) the presence of "s" (vs. Lith. "š") and (2) retention of the diphthong "ei". Cognates include Pol. siano and Lith. šienas, both meaning "hay". ( J. Nalepa, 1969, Znaczenie Jaćwięskiej nazwy Sejny -Slavia Orientalis 18.189–190 ).
On December 22, 1522, Sigismund I of Poland
ordered the voivod of Podlaskie Janusz Kostewicz to grant half of a square mile of land at the shores of the river Sejna (now called Marycha) to hetman
Iwan Wiśniowiecki. On May 21 of the following year Kostewicz described the parcel in a letter to the king and soon afterwards Wiśniowiecki became the owner of the area. A new wooden manor was built in the place where the Sejna river reached Sejny lake and soon settlement started. Wiśniowiecki, a mighty magnate from Volhynia
, never came there personally and instead appointed his governor to rule the hamlet. In 1593 the town was sold by his great granddaughter Anna, wife of voivod of Vitebsk
Mikołaj Sapieha
, to a local noble Jerzy Grodziński for sixty times the amount of 10.000 grosz in silver. Until 1602 he transferred the unnamed village (sometimes referred to as Sejna) into a town called Juriewo, after its founder. However, the name did not stick and instead it was named Sejny.
The towns market was located on a small hill overlooking the right bank of the river, near the original wooden manor. It was located right on the earlier trade route. South of the town a new road leading to Grodno was created and the new settlement received significant income from trading. The founder of the town financed a Catholic St George's church and established a new parochy.
monastery in Vilnius
. He died on January 12 of the following year and on June 4, 1603 king Sigismund III Vasa
accepted the testament. In 1610 the monks started the construction of a large monastery
there. The construction of the monastery was finished in 1619 and by 1632 a new church was built nearby, devoted to Holy Mary, Saint George
and Saint Hyacinth
. The town was developed slowly, mostly due to low traffic on the old trade routes to Grodno. Nevertheless, in the 17th century another church devoted to the Holy Spirit
was consecrated, a printing press
was started and most probably a hospital. Also the monastery was being constantly expanded and became one of the most notable examples of a fortified monastery in Central Europe.
The city growth was halted by the war with Sweden
, known as The Deluge
. In 1656, after a major battle took place in the area, the town was captured by the Swedes, looted and then burnt to the ground. Fortunately the monastery survived and, after the war ended, the monks returned to the town and started its reconstruction. On November 8, 1670, king Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki granted the town the privilege of organizing a market and fair once a week. This helped the monks to repopulate the town with new settlers, mostly from over-populated Masovia. However, in the early 18th century the Great Northern War
put an end to the prosperity as the town was pillaged by several armies in a row and brought two consecutive plague
s to the town.
, Augustów
, Jeleniewo
and Krasnopol
. This brought the prosperity back on track and the Dominicans started the reconstruction of Sejny – this time as a town full of notable examples of baroque
architecture. The church received a new façade, in 1770 a new town hall was built and in 1778 new marketplace and a new Wooden synagogue were opened. The Neo-baroque
Sejny Synagogue
was built in the 1860s and is now used as a cultural center.
In the effect of the Partitions of Poland
, in 1794 Sejny became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
and confiscated by the Prussian authorities in 1797. Initially neglected, in 1807 the town became part of the Duchy of Warsaw
and a major administrative centre. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815 the town was transferred to the Kingdom of Poland
and retained its status as a seat of a powiat
. In 1818 the bishopric
was moved to Sejny from Wigry and Sejny Priest Seminary
was established in 1826. The town continued to prosper, despite a major fire that had struck the city earlier that year. The population also grew rapidly. However, in the later part of the 19th century, the prosperity ended. After the November Uprising
and the January Uprising
, in which the city's inhabitants took part in the struggles against Imperial Russia, the town was again deprived of its privileges and became neglected. Also, lack of railways in Russia prevented the town to develop its industry and Sejny continued to exist as a small provincial town and a local centre of trade and commerce.
military administration, it was planned as a part of one of the puppet states established by the Germans in Central Europe in accordance with their Mitteleuropa
plan. However, with their defeat in the war, the German garrisons started to withdraw from the area. On May 8, 1919 the administration over the town was passed to re-born Lithuania
. This led to tensions between Poland and Lithuania, as both sides claimed the area. Under pressure from the Conference of Ambassadors
(later to become the League of Nations
), Poland initially backed down on the issue, but, on August 22, 1919, on the day German troops withdrew from the area, Polish Military Organization organized military action against the Lithuanian rule in what became known as the Sejny Uprising
(or "Seinai Revolt"). Several times Sejny changed hands. During these battles, both sides used repressive measures. On August 28, the so called uprising ended with a Polish success, and the town became a part of Poland. After Poles acquired the town and its surroundings, the Lithuanian population of the region was subject to various repressions. Depending on the source, these repressions are described as having included evictions; banning the use of Lithuanian language in public; closures of Lithuanian organizations, schools and press; and confiscation of property. In his book examining the period, historian Piotr Łossowski suggested that both sides exaggerated repressions they suffered during the uprising and its aftermath in order to elicit internal and external support. Sejny town at the time had approximately 2500 inhabitants.
Only a year later, the town was captured by the Bolshevist Russia
in the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War. To ensure the right of passage through Lithuanian territory, on July 12, 1920 the Russian authorities signed the Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920, in which it granted the Lithuanians the rights to the area. On July 19 the Lithuanians attacked the Polish defenders and recaptured the town. The Lithuanian authorities were once again established in the area. After the Battle of Warsaw
the Bolshevik forces were defeated and the Polish Army again entered the area under Lithuanian control. As the Paris Peace Conference
established the Polish-Lithuanian border on an ethnic basis, roughly correspondent to the status quo ante bellum
, the Lithuanian forces were forced to withdraw from the town and on August 31, 1920 the town was yet again attached to Poland. However, the Lithuanian authorities continued to claim the area and on September 2 a Lithuanian offensive started the so-called Polish-Lithuanian War
. As the town was located only some 2 kilometres from the Lithuanian border, it was easily captured by Lithuanian forces. However, the assault was repelled with heavy losses on Lithuanian side and the Polish Army recaptured the town on September 9. The following day the last of the Lithuanian units retreated to the other side of the border and on October 7 a cease fire agreement was signed, leaving Sejny on the Polish side of the border.
During the interbellum, the town continued to be claimed by Lithuania and it was not until the 1938 Polish ultimatum
that Lithuania finally agreed for a delimitation of the border. Meanwhile the town developed quite rapidly and was joined with both Suwałki and Grodno with a railroad. In 1925 the bishopric and the powiat
status were removed, but the town remained a notable centre of not only trade and commerce, but also wood and furniture production, gaining profits from the nearby forests.
During the Polish Defensive War
of 1939 the town was first captured by the Soviet Union
on September 24, 1939. Sejny was severely pillaged and then on October 13, 1939 transferred to Nazi Germany
. It remained occupied by the Germans for the rest of World War II, which resulted in almost complete destruction of the local Jewish community in the gas chambers of the German extermination camps. On August 31, 1944 the town was again captured by the Red Army
and soon afterwards it was delivered to the new Soviet
-controlled communist authorities of Poland.
After the war the local population, largely depleted during the war, started to recuperate. A notable influx of Poles resettled from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
allowed for fast reconstruction of the town. In 1956, after the administrative reform of that year, Sejny once again became a seat of a powiat
. Although it was cancelled in 1975, the new administrative division of Poland passed in 1999 reinstituted it.
. It is the main seat of the Lithuanian Society of Poland and the Aušra bi-weekly. According to Sejny County site the number of Lithuanians living in the town and the powiat surrounding it is close to 40%. Due to that, there is a Lithuanian consulate there, as well as a Lithuanian schooling complex (kindergarten, elementary school, gymnasium
).
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, in Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship
Podlaskie Voivodeship , is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. It borders on Masovian Voivodeship to the west, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship to the northwest, Lublin Voivodeship to the south, the Belarusssian Voblasts of Grodno and Brest to the east, the Lithuanian Counties of Alytus and...
, close to the border with Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area , on the Marycha
Marycha
Marycha is a small river that serves as the natural Polish–Lithuanian and Lithuanian–Belarusian border. It starts around Puńsk, flows through the town of Sejny, passes through Pomorze Lake. It is a tributary of Czarna Hańcza.- External links :...
river, being a tributary of Czarna Hańcza. As of 1999 it had almost 6,500 permanent inhabitants, with many more inhabiting the area in the tourist season, and was the capital of a separate powiat
Sejny County
Sejny County a unit of territorial administration and local government in Podlaskie Voivodeship, in the extreme north-east of Poland, on the border with Lithuania and Belarus. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998...
.
Early history
In the early Middle AgesEarly Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
the area comprising modern Sejny was inhabited by the Yotvingians
Yotvingians
Yotvingians or Sudovians were a Baltic people with close cultural ties to the Lithuanians and Prussians...
, one of the Baltic tribes
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
that had arrived in the area in the first millennium. After the internal struggles of the 13th century, the area was subject to expansion from both Masovia and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. As a result of the incursions
Drang nach Osten
Drang nach Osten was a term coined in the 19th century to designate German expansion into Slavic lands. The term became a motto of the German nationalist movement in the late nineteenth century...
of the Teutonic Order, the area was almost entirely depopulated and only small remnants of the Yotvingian settlements remain presently. In 14th century the area was the scene of constant struggles between the Lithuanians and the Teutons and indeed the first written mention of the area where the town now lies dates back to 1385 and mentions an armed raid of the German knights from Merkinė
Merkine
Merkinė is a town in Dzūkija National Park in Lithuania, located at the confluence of the Merkys and Neman Rivers.First mentioned in 1359, Merkinė is one of the oldest Lithuanian settlements. It received the Magdeburg rights in 1569. The town is the location of The Mount of Queen Bona, a mound...
to Giżycko
Gizycko
Giżycko is a town in northeastern Poland with 29,796 inhabitants . It is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship , having previously been in the Suwałki Voivodeship . It is the seat of Giżycko County.-History:...
.
After the Teutonic-Lithuanian border was established in 1422, the forests in the area started to be gradually repopulated. New roads were paved and one of them, leading from Berżniki
Berzniki
Berżniki , is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sejny, within Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Lithuania. It lies approximately south-east of Sejny and north of the regional capital Białystok.The village has a population of...
through what is now Sejny to Merkinė, became a notable trade route
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
. In 1510 Michał Pac became the governor of the area and founded the settlement of Berżniki. This started a period of fast development of previously Yotvingian lands. According to a legend, the town of Sejny was started by three of the old knights of King Władysław Jagiełło, who after the Battle of Grunwald
Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...
was to grant them with a land parcel in what is now Sejny. The three were very old and named the settlement accordingly Seni, which is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and lithuanian word for Old Men. The name was then allegedly transferred into Sejny. However, there are no archaeological findings or documents that would back this legend up, and the name itself is Yotvingian
Sudovian language
Sudovian is an extinct western Baltic language of Northeastern Europe. Closely related to the Old Prussian language, it was formerly spoken southwest of the Nemunas river in what is now Lithuania, east of Galindia and north of Yotvingia, and by exiles in East Prussia.-History:Sudovia and...
in origin. The linguist Jerzy Nalepa proposed that the nearby river name Sejna ( now Marycha
Marycha
Marycha is a small river that serves as the natural Polish–Lithuanian and Lithuanian–Belarusian border. It starts around Puńsk, flows through the town of Sejny, passes through Pomorze Lake. It is a tributary of Czarna Hańcza.- External links :...
) and the city name are Yotvingian. Their Yotvingian nature is characterized by two features, (1) the presence of "s" (vs. Lith. "š") and (2) retention of the diphthong "ei". Cognates include Pol. siano and Lith. šienas, both meaning "hay". ( J. Nalepa, 1969, Znaczenie Jaćwięskiej nazwy Sejny -Slavia Orientalis 18.189–190 ).
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
ordered the voivod of Podlaskie Janusz Kostewicz to grant half of a square mile of land at the shores of the river Sejna (now called Marycha) to hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Iwan Wiśniowiecki. On May 21 of the following year Kostewicz described the parcel in a letter to the king and soon afterwards Wiśniowiecki became the owner of the area. A new wooden manor was built in the place where the Sejna river reached Sejny lake and soon settlement started. Wiśniowiecki, a mighty magnate from Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
, never came there personally and instead appointed his governor to rule the hamlet. In 1593 the town was sold by his great granddaughter Anna, wife of voivod of Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
Mikołaj Sapieha
Mikolaj Sapieha
Mikołaj Sapieha may refer to:*Mikołaj Sapieha - voivode of Minsk, Brzesc Litewski, Witebsk*Mikołaj Sapieha "Pious" - voivode of Minsk, Brzesc Litewski*Mikołaj Sapieha , voivode of Minsk, Nowogrodek...
, to a local noble Jerzy Grodziński for sixty times the amount of 10.000 grosz in silver. Until 1602 he transferred the unnamed village (sometimes referred to as Sejna) into a town called Juriewo, after its founder. However, the name did not stick and instead it was named Sejny.
The towns market was located on a small hill overlooking the right bank of the river, near the original wooden manor. It was located right on the earlier trade route. South of the town a new road leading to Grodno was created and the new settlement received significant income from trading. The founder of the town financed a Catholic St George's church and established a new parochy.
17th century
Jerzy Grodziński died without heirs and on May 16, 1602, he willed all of his properties to the DominicanDominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
monastery in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
. He died on January 12 of the following year and on June 4, 1603 king Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
accepted the testament. In 1610 the monks started the construction of a large monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
there. The construction of the monastery was finished in 1619 and by 1632 a new church was built nearby, devoted to Holy Mary, Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
and Saint Hyacinth
Saint Hyacinth
Saint Hyacinth, O.P., was educated in Paris and Bologna. A Doctor of Sacred Studies and a secular priest, he worked to reform women's monasteries in his native Poland...
. The town was developed slowly, mostly due to low traffic on the old trade routes to Grodno. Nevertheless, in the 17th century another church devoted to the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
was consecrated, a printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
was started and most probably a hospital. Also the monastery was being constantly expanded and became one of the most notable examples of a fortified monastery in Central Europe.
The city growth was halted by the war with Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, known as The Deluge
The Deluge (Polish history)
The term Deluge denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and...
. In 1656, after a major battle took place in the area, the town was captured by the Swedes, looted and then burnt to the ground. Fortunately the monastery survived and, after the war ended, the monks returned to the town and started its reconstruction. On November 8, 1670, king Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki granted the town the privilege of organizing a market and fair once a week. This helped the monks to repopulate the town with new settlers, mostly from over-populated Masovia. However, in the early 18th century the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
put an end to the prosperity as the town was pillaged by several armies in a row and brought two consecutive plague
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
s to the town.
Modernisation
At the same time the area was being populated and numerous settlements were founded not far from Sejny. In 1715 the Camedulian monks founded a village and a monastery, that soon evolved into what is now the town of Suwałki. Other towns founded in that period were PuńskPunsk
Puńsk is a village with 1,050 inhabitants in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. Over 80% of the population of Puńsk is Lithuanian. It lies in the northeastern part of Poland, only from the border with Lithuania....
, Augustów
Augustów
Augustów is a town in north-eastern Poland with 29,600 inhabitants . It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship , having previously been in Suwałki Voivodeship . It is the seat of Augustów County and of Gmina Augustów.In 1970 Augustów became...
, Jeleniewo
Jeleniewo
Jeleniewo is a village in Suwałki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Jeleniewo...
and Krasnopol
Krasnopol, Podlaskie Voivodeship
Krasnopol , is a village in Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Krasnopol. It lies approximately west of Sejny and north of the regional capital Białystok....
. This brought the prosperity back on track and the Dominicans started the reconstruction of Sejny – this time as a town full of notable examples of baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
architecture. The church received a new façade, in 1770 a new town hall was built and in 1778 new marketplace and a new Wooden synagogue were opened. The Neo-baroque
Neo-baroque
The Baroque Revival or Neo-baroque was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture which displays important aspects of Baroque style, but is not of the Baroque period proper—i.e., the 17th and 18th centuries.Some examples of Neo-baroque architecture:*...
Sejny Synagogue
Sejny Synagogue
The Sejny synagogue is a former synagogue in Sejny, Poland, also called the White Synagogue in Sejny.-History:The large, Neo-baroque style building on Pilsudskiego Street was erected in the 1860's, replacing an older building. It was used by the Nazis as a fire station, the interior was gutted and...
was built in the 1860s and is now used as a cultural center.
In the effect of the Partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
, in 1794 Sejny became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
and confiscated by the Prussian authorities in 1797. Initially neglected, in 1807 the town became part of the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
and a major administrative centre. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815 the town was transferred to the Kingdom of Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
and retained its status as a seat of a powiat
Powiat
A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...
. In 1818 the bishopric
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
was moved to Sejny from Wigry and Sejny Priest Seminary
Sejny Priest Seminary
The Sejny Priest Seminary or Sejny Theological Seminary was a Catholic priest seminary established in Sejny in 1826. The courses lasted five years...
was established in 1826. The town continued to prosper, despite a major fire that had struck the city earlier that year. The population also grew rapidly. However, in the later part of the 19th century, the prosperity ended. After the November Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
and the January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
, in which the city's inhabitants took part in the struggles against Imperial Russia, the town was again deprived of its privileges and became neglected. Also, lack of railways in Russia prevented the town to develop its industry and Sejny continued to exist as a small provincial town and a local centre of trade and commerce.
20th century
During World War I, in 1915, the town was captured by Germany. Initially part of the Ober OstOber Ost
Ober Ost is short for Oberbefehlshaber der gesamten Deutschen Streitkräfte im Osten, which is a German term meaning "Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East" during World War I. In practice it refers not only to said commander, but also to his governing military staff and the district...
military administration, it was planned as a part of one of the puppet states established by the Germans in Central Europe in accordance with their Mitteleuropa
Mitteleuropa
Mitteleuropa is the German term equal to Central Europe. The word has political, geographic and cultural meaning. While it describes a geographical location, it also is the word denoting a political concept of a German-dominated and exploited Central European union that was put into motion during...
plan. However, with their defeat in the war, the German garrisons started to withdraw from the area. On May 8, 1919 the administration over the town was passed to re-born Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. This led to tensions between Poland and Lithuania, as both sides claimed the area. Under pressure from the Conference of Ambassadors
Conference of Ambassadors
The Conference of Ambassadors of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers was an inter-allied organization of the Entente in the period following the end of World War I. Formed in Paris in January 1920 it became a successor of the Supreme War Council and was later on de facto incorporated into...
(later to become the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
), Poland initially backed down on the issue, but, on August 22, 1919, on the day German troops withdrew from the area, Polish Military Organization organized military action against the Lithuanian rule in what became known as the Sejny Uprising
Sejny Uprising
The Sejny Uprising or Seinai Revolt refers to a Polish uprising in the ethnically-mixed area surrounding Sejny against the Lithuanian authorities in August 1919. When German forces, which occupied the territory during World War I, retreated from the area, the administration was handed to the...
(or "Seinai Revolt"). Several times Sejny changed hands. During these battles, both sides used repressive measures. On August 28, the so called uprising ended with a Polish success, and the town became a part of Poland. After Poles acquired the town and its surroundings, the Lithuanian population of the region was subject to various repressions. Depending on the source, these repressions are described as having included evictions; banning the use of Lithuanian language in public; closures of Lithuanian organizations, schools and press; and confiscation of property. In his book examining the period, historian Piotr Łossowski suggested that both sides exaggerated repressions they suffered during the uprising and its aftermath in order to elicit internal and external support. Sejny town at the time had approximately 2500 inhabitants.
Only a year later, the town was captured by the Bolshevist Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
in the course of the Polish-Bolshevik War. To ensure the right of passage through Lithuanian territory, on July 12, 1920 the Russian authorities signed the Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920, in which it granted the Lithuanians the rights to the area. On July 19 the Lithuanians attacked the Polish defenders and recaptured the town. The Lithuanian authorities were once again established in the area. After the Battle of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...
the Bolshevik forces were defeated and the Polish Army again entered the area under Lithuanian control. As the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
established the Polish-Lithuanian border on an ethnic basis, roughly correspondent to the status quo ante bellum
Status quo ante bellum
The term status quo ante bellum is Latin, meaning literally "the state in which things were before the war".The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
, the Lithuanian forces were forced to withdraw from the town and on August 31, 1920 the town was yet again attached to Poland. However, the Lithuanian authorities continued to claim the area and on September 2 a Lithuanian offensive started the so-called Polish-Lithuanian War
Polish-Lithuanian War
The Polish–Lithuanian War was an armed conflict between newly independent Lithuania and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The conflict primarily concerned territorial control of the Vilnius Region, including Vilnius , and the Suwałki Region, including the towns of Suwałki, Augustów, and Sejny...
. As the town was located only some 2 kilometres from the Lithuanian border, it was easily captured by Lithuanian forces. However, the assault was repelled with heavy losses on Lithuanian side and the Polish Army recaptured the town on September 9. The following day the last of the Lithuanian units retreated to the other side of the border and on October 7 a cease fire agreement was signed, leaving Sejny on the Polish side of the border.
During the interbellum, the town continued to be claimed by Lithuania and it was not until the 1938 Polish ultimatum
1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania
The 1938 Polish ultimatum to Lithuania was an ultimatum delivered to Lithuania by Poland on March 17, 1938. The Lithuanian government had steadfastly refused to have any diplomatic relations with Poland after 1920, protesting the annexation by Poland of the Vilnius Region. As pre-World War II...
that Lithuania finally agreed for a delimitation of the border. Meanwhile the town developed quite rapidly and was joined with both Suwałki and Grodno with a railroad. In 1925 the bishopric and the powiat
Powiat
A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...
status were removed, but the town remained a notable centre of not only trade and commerce, but also wood and furniture production, gaining profits from the nearby forests.
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
of 1939 the town was first captured by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
on September 24, 1939. Sejny was severely pillaged and then on October 13, 1939 transferred to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. It remained occupied by the Germans for the rest of World War II, which resulted in almost complete destruction of the local Jewish community in the gas chambers of the German extermination camps. On August 31, 1944 the town was again captured by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and soon afterwards it was delivered to the new Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-controlled communist authorities of Poland.
After the war the local population, largely depleted during the war, started to recuperate. A notable influx of Poles resettled from the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
Immediately after the German invasion of Poland in 1939, which marked the beginning of World War II, the Soviet Union invaded the eastern regions of the Second Polish Republic, which Poles referred to as the "Kresy," and annexed territories totaling 201,015 km² with a population of 13,299,000...
allowed for fast reconstruction of the town. In 1956, after the administrative reform of that year, Sejny once again became a seat of a powiat
Powiat
A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as "county", although other terms are also sometimes used...
. Although it was cancelled in 1975, the new administrative division of Poland passed in 1999 reinstituted it.
Modern Sejny
Currently Sejny is a notable centre of trade, production and tourism, with thousands of them visiting the town every year. A milk plant and a cheese factory are located in the town, as well as numerous hotels. Sejny is also a notable centre of cultural life of the Lithuanian minority in PolandLithuanian minority in Poland
Lithuanian minority in Poland consists of 5,639 people living chiefly in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the north-eastern part of Poland...
. It is the main seat of the Lithuanian Society of Poland and the Aušra bi-weekly. According to Sejny County site the number of Lithuanians living in the town and the powiat surrounding it is close to 40%. Due to that, there is a Lithuanian consulate there, as well as a Lithuanian schooling complex (kindergarten, elementary school, gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
).
Notable inhabitants
- Jerzy Aleksandrowicz, biologist and bothanician
- Antanas BaranauskasAntanas BaranauskasAntanas Baranauskas was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and a catholic bishop of Polish town Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian language poem Anykščių šilelis. He used various pseudonyms, including A.B., Bangputys, Jurksztas Smalaūsis, Jurkštas Smalaūsis, and Baronas...
, a notable Lithuanian poet - Antoni Bukaty, writer, philosopher and engineer
- Szymon KonarskiSzymon KonarskiSzymon Konarski was a 19th-century Polish radical democratic politician and revolutionary. As a politician, he supported the radical idea of social and economic equality for all men, as well as the right of political and national liberty and self-governance.Konarski supported the idea of land...
, writer and patriot - Stanisław Kunatt, writer, professor of the Warsaw University and freedom fighter
- Jerzy Srzednicki, artist
- Walerian Staniszewski, journalist
- Anzelm Wojciech Szweykowski, teacher
Notable tourist attractions
- DominicanDominican OrderThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
monasteryMonasteryMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
(17th century) - Assumption of the Holy Mary Church
- Notable sculpture of Our Lady of Sejny
- Town Hall (1770)
- three synaguges: White Synagogue, Old Synagogue, Talmudic House
- Monument to the heroes of the Sejny UprisingSejny UprisingThe Sejny Uprising or Seinai Revolt refers to a Polish uprising in the ethnically-mixed area surrounding Sejny against the Lithuanian authorities in August 1919. When German forces, which occupied the territory during World War I, retreated from the area, the administration was handed to the...
- Monument to Antanas BaranauskasAntanas BaranauskasAntanas Baranauskas was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and a catholic bishop of Polish town Sejny. Baranauskas is best known as the author of the Lithuanian language poem Anykščių šilelis. He used various pseudonyms, including A.B., Bangputys, Jurksztas Smalaūsis, Jurkštas Smalaūsis, and Baronas...
External links
- Sejny town home page (Polish)
- Sejny town (in Polish)
- Sejny town home page (in English)
- Borderland Foundation in Sejny
- Find Sejny on the map of Poland