Alsėdžiai (Samogitian: Alsiedē, Polish: Olsiady) is a small town in the Plungė district municipality. It is near the Sruoja River, 20 km (12 mi) from Plungė.

Alsėdžiai
Town
Alsėdžiai church
Alsėdžiai church
Coat of arms of Alsėdžiai
Alsėdžiai is located in Lithuania
Alsėdžiai
Alsėdžiai
Location of Alsėdžiai
Coordinates: 56°01′40.8″N 22°02′38.4″E / 56.028000°N 22.044000°E / 56.028000; 22.044000
Country Lithuania
CountyTelšiai County
Population
 (2021)
 • Total
749
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Alsėdžiai is an administrative center of the Alsėdžiai eldership. Stanisław Narutowicz, one of the signers of Act of Independence of Lithuania and brother to the first president of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is buried in the village cemetery.

As of 2011, there were 896 inhabitants living in this town.[1]

History

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A settlement of Baltic tribes in the territory of the present-day city is said to have existed in the region as early as Mesolithic times.

In June 1941, Jews from the town were kept prisoners in a ghetto,[2] some were killed and some were used as labor slaves. On December 24, 1941, 24-27 Jewish women and one boy were killed in a mass execution perpetrated by an Einsatzgruppen. The murderers selected a place by the foot of the hill by the cemetery so the victims couldn’t escape.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "2011 census". Statistikos Departamentas (Lithuania). Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "המכון הבין-לאומי לחקר השואה - יד ושם".
  3. ^ "Holocaust Atlas of Lithuania".
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