1 Killing site(s)
Kazimierz T., born in 1922: "In Kozienice, there was a large Jewish population. Many worked as traders, tailors, and shoemakers. At the beginning of the German occupation, Jews were allowed to move freely in the streets. However, the synagogue was burned down by the Germans. Later, a ghetto was established, with barricades set up on the streets, restricting Jews from leaving the ghetto area. The ghetto was primarily located in the district where the Jewish community had already been living." (Testimony N°YIU694P, interviewed in Kozienice, on June 10, 2017)
Kozienice, located approximately 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Warsaw along the Zagożdżonka River, was first mentioned in 1206 and received town privileges in 1549. The town became a royal economic center in the early 17th century. The first records of Jewish presence in Kozienice date back to 1596, and by 1607, five Jewish families resided there. In 1616, King Sigismund III granted the Jewish community the right to establish a synagogue, maintain a cemetery, and engage in trade, butchery, and the sale of alcohol. By 1786, the Jewish population had grown to 1,240, comprising 55% of the town’s residents.
In the 19th century, Kozienice became an important center of Hasidism under the leadership of Israel Isaac Hofstein (1733–1834), known as the Magid of Kozienice. The Jewish population continued to grow, reaching 3,764 in 1897, or 59% of the total population. Jewish residents were primarily involved in trade, crafts, and small-scale manufacturing, including operating tanneries, mills, and breweries.
During the interwar period, Kozienice remained a vital hub of Jewish life. By 1921, the town’s population was 8,633, with Jews numbering 3,811, or 44%. Jewish residents were concentrated around the market square and on streets such as Magietowska, where community institutions like the synagogue and the rabbi’s residence were located. Jewish businesses were central to the local economy, with Jewish merchants managing most of the market stalls.
On the eve of the Second World War in 1939, Kozienice had a population of just under 9,000, with Jews making up approximately 50%. They were a vibrant and integral part of the town’s economic, social, and cultural fabric.
Kozienice was occupied by German forces on September 9, 1939. Shortly afterward, a new administration was established, which included a Gendarmerie squad, an Auxiliary Police unit (later renamed the Sonderdienst), and the Baudienst (Construction Service), primarily composed of local ethnic Germans. Additionally, a Wehrmacht garrison was stationed in the town until June 1941.
Anti-Jewish measures were implemented in Kozienice immediately after the occupation. On October 13, 1939, the Germans set fire to the synagogue, forcing the Jewish population to pray while it burned. In the same month, a Judenrat (Jewish Council) was established to enforce German directives. These included registering the 4,248 Jewish residents, paying escalating contributions, and providing 500 Jewish laborers daily for forced labor. Alongside Polish workers, Jews were forced to undertake tasks such as road and railroad construction, forestry, agricultural work, and building a canal between Kozienice and Gniewoszów.
By the end of December 1941, all Jewish residents were required to relocate to a designated area in the town, which later became the ghetto. According to a local witness interviewed by Yahad, at least two Jews, a man and a woman, were shot by a German soldier near the Chartówka River during this resettlement Aktion. By May 1942, the ghetto was fenced off, and Jews were forbidden to leave its confines. The Gendarmerie guarded the perimeter, while a Jewish police force maintained order within. Jews caught leaving the ghetto or violating curfews were executed.
By August 1942, the ghetto housed between 8,000 and 13,000 Jews, including those deported from Magnuszew, Trzebień, Wierzbica, Głowaczów, and other nearby areas. Harsh living and working conditions, isolated killings, and a typhus epidemic in the spring of 1942 led to the deaths of over 500 ghetto inmates by July 1942. This figure likely includes a group of seven Jews—men, women, and children—shot along the road to Warsaw. According to a witness, their bodies were buried at the site of the shooting.
The Kozienice ghetto was liquidated on September 27, 1942, in an Aktion carried out by SS forces and the Gendarmerie, assisted by Ukrainian auxiliaries. Jews were ordered to assemble on Targowa and Kościelna streets with a few personal belongings before being escorted to the railway station, either on foot or by cart. From there, they were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp. During the Aktion, around 100 Jews—those who were sick, unable to walk, or attempting to escape—were shot in Kozienice. According to a witness, a Jewish doctor named Abramowicz committed suicide along with his entire family to avoid deportation.
Several dozen Jewish men were spared during the ghetto’s liquidation to clean up the area. These men remained in Kozienice until December 1942, when approximately 70 of them were deported to the Skarżysko-Kamienna labor camp. After the destruction of the Jewish community, Jewish property was looted or sold at auction, and Jewish homes were demolished. Gravestones from the Jewish cemetery were repurposed as flagstones, including for walkways in front of the Gestapo headquarters, which was located in the former rectory.
Some Jews who survived the war in Kozienice did so by working in labor camps or hiding, often aided by local Poles. In addition to Jewish victims, a number of Poles were also killed during the German occupation of the town.
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