also known as: Szerednye (HU), Seredne (CZ), Sredneye (RU)
48°32' N / 22°30' E
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Sredneye
was part of the Kingdom of Hungary (11th century - 1920 and 1938-1944) with the name of Szerednye
in the Ungvári járás (district) and Ung megye (county), next part of Czechoslovakia (1920-1938) with the name of Seredne
in Podkarpatská Rus (Sub-Carpathia), then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1945-1991) with the name of Sredneye in the Uzhhorod (district) and,
since 1991, known as Sredneye in the Uzhhorodskyi rayon (district) and the Zakarpats'ka oblast (county) of Ukraine.
Other spellings/names for Sredneye
are Seredné and Serednje.
Sredneye is located eleven miles east-southeast of Uzhhorod, eleven miles west-northwest of Mukacheve.
The name of the town originated from serednij (the middle), which describes the distance between it and two main cities of Uzhhorod (Ungvár) and Mukacheve (Munkács).
The first Jews probably settled in Sredneye in the early 18th century. Three Jewish families were living there in 1746 and by 1830, the Jewish population was 256.
In 1877, the population of Sredneye was 1,701 made up of Hungarians, Germans, Rusyns and Jews and comprised the following religions: Roman Catholic (550); Greek Catholic (748); Agnostic (8), Reformed (6), and Jewish (389 or about 23% of the total population).
After WWI, the Sredneye community maintained an elementary school for 100 pupils.
In 1921, the Jewish population of Sredneye increased to 599 and by 1941, there were 619 Jews living there. They were involved in the day-to-day life of Sredneye, 16 were artisans, 13 were tradesmen, there were three Kosher butchers, a few farmers and several professionals.
With the arrival of the Hungarians in March, 1939, the Jews were pushed out of their professions.
In 1940-41, dozens of Jews were drafted into the Hungarian Slave Labor Battalions with some being sent to labor camps and others being sent to the eastern front, where most perished.
In late July, 1941, a few Jewish families without Hungarian citizenship were expelled to Kamenets-Podolski in Ukraine, where they were murdered. Afterwards, some of the Jews of Sredneye fled to the Soviet Union where they joined the Czechoslovakian army and fought against the Nazis on the eastern front.
In April 1944, the day after Passover (Pesach), the remaining Jews living in Sredneye—about 500—were rounded up and marched to the Uzhhorod (Ungvár) ghetto where they were interned for a month and a half, after which they were forced into cattle cars and transported by train to the Auschwitz concentration camp on 17 May 1944. A great number of the Jews of Sredneye were murdered in the Holocaust.
After the war, a few dozen survivors returned to Sredneye, but most soon after abandoned the town. No Jews live there today.
Today, Sredneye is a still a small village with about 442 inhabitants. The main sight of this town is the castle built in the 13th century. This is the only building in the Roman style in Sub-Carpathia and the fortress was the most eastern outpost of the Knights Templar order. It was built on the flat terrain, which is not classic for this territory. Unfortunately, the only part that has survived is the Donjon (tower), the main and defining part of every Roman castle. There was an arsenal and a prison here and near it, you can also find the remaining parts of the well. Some parts of wooden paling, trench and shaft are also still visible.
Sources (portions): The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, (2001), p. 1163.
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