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SEJNY - the beginning of the century
Sejny is a town in a north-eastern part of Podlasie region, surrounded by the hillocks, forests, and the lakes. Sejny is situated just 10 kilometres from Ogrodniki - border crossing with Lithuania. The borders with Bielarus and Russia (Kaliningrad Region) are near too. The town was founded by Jerzy Grodziński, starost of neighboring lands, at the turn of 16 and 17 centuries. Initially the name of the town was to be Juriewo, but it was not accepted, and finally it got the name Sejny after the Sejna River (at present the Marycha River).
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| All Souls' Day in the White Synagogue
Annual meetings with the inhabitants of Sejny, devoted to memory. All Souls' Day in the White Synagouge happens twice a year: in the spring and in the fall people gather at the table in the former temple and exchange the memories. This tradition goes back to the beginnings of the Borderland Center, when people of various heritages met: the Lithuanians, the Poles, the Ukrainians, Roms, Orthodox, and Jews. They shared their stories about those who had left with the inhabitants of Sejny. Last year All Souls' Day commemorated Czesław and Andrzej Miłosz - the friends and patrons of the Borderland Center. More...
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 | October 28th - All Souls' Day - John Paul II Teachings
Religious divisions and the crisis of the multicultural society have become the main problems of the third millennium after Christ. What was telling us John Paul II? Which ideas and activities of this pilgrim - the great Pontifex of the 20th century - should we think over again and wake up from the narcosis of ignorance? We invited distinguished spiritual leaders of various denominations in Poland and Lithuania to take part in a discussion which will focus on these questions and problems.
All Souls' Evening starts at 4 p.m. on 28th October with the holy mass in the Basilica of the Visitation of St. Mary the Virgin in Sejny. All the events will last during October 27-29th. More...
The participants |
| SEJNY LEGENDS
"In Olit old forest, which covered big part of Lithuanian land, on the southern edge of then Przelom Forestry, at the one of the numerous lakes around Augustów, three Lithuanian knights, exhausted with the defending the country against the Crusaders, founded the villages, where they were going to live their late years..." More...
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| SEJNY INHABITANTS
Today there are Poles, Lithuanians, and Russian Old-believers.
The town was also inhabited by Belarusians, Jews, Germans, Tatars, and the Gypsies.
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| | SEJNY CHRONICLES | 
I am standing in front of the synagogue. I can hear the Jewish songs, which once were sung here, I can see the Jewish market stalls and the Old Believers with their long beards. I hear a commotion -- shouts in Polish, Lithuanian, German, Russian, Yiddish… I can almost see menorah candles being lit in windows of Jewish homes on Friday night; I see beautiful Rachel on her shopping errands, I see the Roma men setting up camp by the river and the boy musician selling his accordion in front of the Round Shops. Many stories have been forgotten over time, so we want to memorialize those we have had the good fortune to hear and record. More...
Review in Gazeta Wyborcza by Roman Pawłowski
Relation from the Chronicles show in March 2005, Warsaw, by Bartosz Hlebowicz
Photos from March 2005, Warsaw performance
First anniversary of Jacek Kuroń's death - Sejny Chronicles in Warsaw, June 10th 2005
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SEJNY INHABITANTS TELL THEIR STORIES...
Teresa Rugienis-Witkowska tells about her home.
Twice a year we would have great family gatherings, my daddy would play, and all the ladies would sing beautifully our patriotic songs. I was very young then, but I do remember it.
My mom would often recollect her young years. She would tell about her cottage with a porch. Young girls and boys would gather at this porch and - in summer time - would sing beautifully, long, long... Sejny stories |
|  | Sejny Almanach is the first magazine, after long break when excellent "Documents on Sejny region history" ceased to exist, devoted to the past and present of Sejny. It is also a new publishing series of the Borderland Center. The magazine focuses on multicultural past of Sejny. Its editorial board consists of historians, social activists, writers, both Polish and Lithuanian. More... |
| DOCUMENTARY CENTER OF BORDERLAND CULTURES
Sejny Library is a collection of books, magazines, press articles on various topics concerning Sejny. There are scientific, historical publications, master dissertations, guidebooks, poetry volumes, novels contained in Documentary Center of Borderland Cultures.
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| | CLAY BOOK |  Clay book is an attempt to mark and describe the places most important historically and culturally for Sejny. A group of 30 Lithuanian and Polish children from Pottery Workshop and Sejny Chronicles Workshop is taking part in the project.
The workshop devoted to clay tablets, sculptures, and relieves telling the history of the town started on March 29th 2005. The workshop program includes: pottery and plastic workshop, history workshop (documenting the history of the town), music workshop, as well as songs of borderland and film shows.
Pottery and plastic workshops: Wiesław Szumiński and Renata Mackiewicz, music workshops: Aneta Stabińska, history workshop and supervising of the whole project: Bożena Szroeder |
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 | SEJNY HISTORIC CARDS
Sejnian Historic Cards is an educational project involving lower-high school youth in searching and discovering historic data about their hometown. The memories of the oldest inhabitants of Sejny are important source of gathering knowledge about the past. The data gathered in such way serves to create historical cards which will make a set of Sejny cards telling the story about multicultural traditions of the city. The youth from Polish and Lithuanian families is taking part in the project. This work is an attempt to make a history alive. The cards will be also used as didactic aids in the schools, kindergartens, and cultural centers in Sejny region.
The project is financed by the Polish Children and Youth Foundation.
More about Glass Beads Game |
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 | REGIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
multiculturalism, history, education through art
Borderland Center since its beginnig has conducted the education towards tolerance, working out modern forms of learnig the neighbors' history and culture. This education always matches the children's age, it is different for kindergarden kids, primary school, high school, and students. Since September 2004 the regional education program has been led, it was worked out in a cooperation with the teachers from Sejny primary schools. |
| | | PHOTO AND OLD POSTACARDS GALLERY |
Sejny - the beginning of the century, the church and the monastery,
horse fair at the square at the Cloth Hall
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