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7-604: 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 the Varėnė River. In other languages, the town is referred to as: Polish : Orany ; German : Warnen ; Yiddish : אוראַן Oran . The town was founded in 1862 near the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway , 4 km (2.5 mi) south of Sena Varėna (Old Varėna). At that time it

14-523: Is twinned with: This Alytus County , Lithuania location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Senoji Var%C4%97na Senoji Varėna is an old village in Varėna district municipality , near Merkys River and Rivulet Varėnė confluence, 4 kilometers north of Varėna , on the road Vilnius – Druskininkai . The village was mentioned for the first time in Teutonic letters in

21-454: 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 to

28-538: The 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. In 1946 around 2000 Poles were repatriated to Poland . Following industrialization in the 1970s, the town grew rapidly. Currently there are 9,240 residents in Varėna. The Varėna district is the largest and most forested region in Lithuania. Varėna

35-448: The year 1413. It was the hometown of the most famous Lithuanian painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis . The village name comes from the Varėnė river which goes through it. There is a legend in folk stories that name Varėna comes from goddess Varėnė who was taking care of hunters and fishermen living by the river. This Alytus County , Lithuania location article is

42-624: Was a small settlement, but following steady development it eventually became the center of the district . In the interbellum period, following World War I, the town was annexed by Poland , and renamed Orany. It was located near the then Polish-Lithuanian border, in the Wilno-Troki County ( Powiat wileńsko-trocki ) of the Wilno Voivodeship . In 1939, following the German-Soviet Invasion of Poland , Varėna

49-454: Was returned to Lithuania. 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 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

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