View source for Užventis

{{Short description|City in Šiauilai, Lithuania}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox settlement <!--more fields are available for this Infobox--See Template:Infobox Settlement-->
|name = Užventis
|image_skyline = Uzventis malunas.JPG
|settlement_type= City
|pushpin_map =Lithuania
|pushpin_label_position = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
|pushpin_map_caption =Location of Užventis
|image_shield = Uzventis COA.gif
|coordinates = {{coord|55|47|N|22|39|E|region:LT_type:city(800)|display=inline,title}}
|subdivision_type = [[Countries of the world|Country]]
|subdivision_name = {{LTU}}
|subdivision_type1= [[Regions of Lithuania|Ethnographic&nbsp;region]]
|subdivision_name1= [[Samogitia]]
|subdivision_type2= [[Counties of Lithuania|County]]
|subdivision_name2= [[Šiauliai County]]
|subdivision_type3= [[List of municipalities of Lithuania|Municipality]]
|subdivision_name3= [[Kelmė district municipality]]
|subdivision_type4= [[Elderships of Lithuania|Eldership]]
|subdivision_name4= Užventis eldership
|subdivision_type6= [[Capital (political)|Capital of]]
|subdivision_name6= Užventis rural eldership
|established_date = 1527
|established_title= First mentioned
|established_date2= 1746
|established_title2=Granted [[Magdeburg rights|city rights]]
|population_total = 598
|population_as_of = 2022
|timezone=[[Eastern European Time|EET]]
|utc_offset=+2
|timezone_DST=[[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
|utc_offset_DST=+3
}}
'''Užventis''' ({{Pronunciation|Uzventis.ogg}}, [[Samogitian language|Samogitian]]: ''Ožvėntis'') is a city in the [[Kelmė district municipality]], [[Lithuania]]. It is located {{Convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} north-west of [[Kelmė]]. [[River Venta]] flows through the city.
==Etymology==
Užventis is a [[Place name origins|place name]] derived from the river named Venta by adding the prefix ''" už- "'', as the town is located upstream of Venta.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vanagas |first1=Aleksandras |title=Lietuvos miestų vardai |date=2004 |publisher=Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas |location=Vilnius |isbn=5420013541 |page=237 |edition=2nd}}</ref> In the [[interwar period]] of the 20th century, the form ''Užventys'' was most commonly used.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lithuanianphilately.com/postal-history/uzventis.html |title=Užventis (also Užventys) 1919-1920  |date=2010-05-29 |publisher=The Lithuania Philatelic Society |access-date=2024-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605075123/http://lithuanianphilately.com/postal-history/uzventis.html |archive-date=2010-06-05}}</ref> In other languages, the town is known by: {{langx|pl|Użwenty}},<ref name=sgk/> {{langx|yi|אוזשווענט}} ''Uzhvent''.
==History==
It was a tract seat in the [[Duchy of Samogitia]] within the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name=sgk>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XII|year=1892|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=875}}</ref>
In 1923, 173 Jews lived in the village, comprising 22 percent of the total population.
The Lithuanian white armband squad formed in Užventis just after the German invasion, and they gathered Jewish residents of the village in the brewery in early July 1941. Jews were humiliated and forced to do various kinds of work for several weeks. At the end of July, the white armbanders dug a large pit in the Želviai forest. The next day, they rounded up the majority of the Jews from the ghetto (about 50-70 people), brought them to the execution place and shot them. Several groups of Jewish men who were fit to work were taken to [[Šiauliai]] and [[Žagarė]]. About 20 Jews who were left in Užventis were executed in the Želviai forest in December 1941.
Užventis is well known for its church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yahadmap.org/#village/u-ventis-scaron-iauliai-lithuania.790|title=Yahad - in Unum}}</ref>
==References==
{{Commons category|Užventis}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Siauliai County}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uzventis}}
[[Category:Cities in Lithuania]]
[[Category:Cities in Šiauliai County]]
[[Category:Shavelsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Holocaust locations in Lithuania]]
[[Category:Kelmė District Municipality]]
{{ŠiauliaiCounty-geo-stub}}