Varėna | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Town clock | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Varėna Location of Varėna | |
| Coordinates:54°12′40″N24°34′20″E / 54.21111°N 24.57222°E /54.21111; 24.57222 | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Ethnographic region | Dzūkija |
| County |  Alytus County |
| Municipality | Varėna district municipality |
| Capital of | Varėna district municipality Varėna eldership |
| First mentioned | 1377 |
| Grantedtown rights | 1946 |
| Area | |
• Total | 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2024[1]) | |
• Total | 7,794 |
| • Density | 650/km2 (1,700/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Varėna (pronunciationⓘ) is a city inDzūkija, southernLithuania.[2] It is the capital of thedistrict of Varėna.[2] Currently, there are 7,794 residents. The Varėna district is the largest and most forestedmunicipality of Lithuania as more than 50% of the district's territory is covered with forests.[3]
The name of the town comes from an old village -Senoji Varėna (at the time called simply Varėna), while the new, present Varėna was being established nearby. The place name itself comes from the name of theVarėnė River.[4] In other languages, the town is referred to as:Polish:Orany;[5]German:Warnen;Yiddish:אוראַןOran.
Varėna was founded in 1862 as arailway town of theWarsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, 4 km (2.5 mi) south ofSena Varėna (Old Varėna). The exact date of the town's foundation is considered to be 5 September 1862 according to theJulian calendar, or 17 September according to the currentGregorian calendar: that's when the first train arrived at the Varėna station. At that time, it was a small settlement, but following steady development, it eventually became the center of thedistrict.[6] In theinterwar period, after World War I, the town was in a territorial dispute between Lithuania and Poland.[7] FollowingZeligowski Mutiny, together with theVilnius Region it was annexed by Poland under its Polish nameOrany. It was located near the then Polish-Lithuanian border and incorporated into theWilno and Troki County of theWilno Voivodeship. The Lithuanian-majority residents of the town persistently opposed the Polish authorities, particularly in regard to the ban on church services in Lithuanian.[6][7]
In 1939, following theGerman-Soviet Invasion of Poland, Varėna was briefly returned to Lithuania, but soon, from 1940, it was occupied by theSoviet Union, and from 1941 it was occupied byNazi Germany. In 1941, the Germans operated the Dulag 112prisoner-of-war camp in the town, before its relocation toMołodeczno.[8] On September 9, 1942, all the Jews of the town of Varėna were collected in the local synagogue. On that day, even though the Germans had tried to prevent him from doing so, the Lithuanian priest Jonas Gylys entered the synagogue and encouraged the Jews to be brave in their last hours rather than convert to Christianity.
On the following day (or, according to another source, on the 9th itself) all of the Jews were taken from the synagogue to Ežeriekai - a grove of trees near the village of Druckūnai, 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) from the town, on the side of the road leading to the village. Two large pits had been dug there 25 metres (82 feet) apart, one for the men and one for the women. Germans forced the victims in groups toward the pits and shot them there.
According tothe report of Karl Jaeger, commander of Einsatzkommando 3A, 831 Jews from Varėna (and the surrounding areas) – 541 men, 149 women, and 141 children – were killed on that day.[9]
In 1944, the town was re-occupied by the Soviet Union, eventually annexed from Poland in 1945 and once again returned to Lithuania. The town became a center of Varėna County (Varėnos apskritis). In 1946 around 2,000 Poleswere repatriated to Poland.[10]
In the aftermath of World War II,Lithuanian partisans of theDainava military district were operating in the area. In 1946, Varėna was granted city rights. Following industrialization in the 1970s, the town grew rapidly. In 1995, the coat of arms of Varėna was formally adopted through a decree from thePresident of Lithuania.[7]
| Climate data for Varėna (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.9 (30.4) | 0.4 (32.7) | 5.5 (41.9) | 13.5 (56.3) | 19.3 (66.7) | 22.6 (72.7) | 24.6 (76.3) | 23.9 (75.0) | 18.3 (64.9) | 11.1 (52.0) | 4.7 (40.5) | 0.5 (32.9) | 12.0 (53.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −3.4 (25.9) | −2.7 (27.1) | 0.9 (33.6) | 7.3 (45.1) | 12.7 (54.9) | 16.3 (61.3) | 18.4 (65.1) | 17.4 (63.3) | 12.3 (54.1) | 6.9 (44.4) | 2.3 (36.1) | −1.7 (28.9) | 7.2 (45.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) | −5.7 (21.7) | −3.3 (26.1) | 1.2 (34.2) | 5.8 (42.4) | 9.8 (49.6) | 12.3 (54.1) | 11.1 (52.0) | 7.1 (44.8) | 3.1 (37.6) | 0.0 (32.0) | −4.0 (24.8) | 2.6 (36.7) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 51 (2.0) | 43 (1.7) | 41 (1.6) | 42 (1.7) | 61 (2.4) | 65 (2.6) | 88 (3.5) | 80 (3.1) | 54 (2.1) | 59 (2.3) | 49 (1.9) | 54 (2.1) | 687 (27) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 87 | 84 | 78 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 75 | 76 | 81 | 84 | 88 | 89 | 79 |
| Source: Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service[11] | |||||||||||||
Varėna istwinned with:
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