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1 Killing site(s)
Józef K., born in 1933: "In the autumn of 1939, the Jews were still living here, but by 1940 or 1941, the Germans forced them into the ghetto in Kolbuszowa. My friend Moniek tried to hide, but eventually, he too was taken to the ghetto along with his father. All the Jews were herded to the Kolbuszowa ghetto like cattle. I could hear their cries and screams as they left Kosowy. They carried their luggage, but it was of no use to them. The column included many Jews from neighboring villages, such as Ostrowy Tuszowskie and Trzęsówka. Those were dreadful times. The Jews were forced to walk to Kolbuszowa, a distance of about 10 kilometers. I remember two Jews on horseback, Szulim and Fisher, who were part of the group. The Germans marched in front, behind, and on both sides of the column, guarding them closely. Sometime later, Moniek and his father, Hunek, managed to return to the village. Desperate, Hunek begged my mother to hide his son, but it was nearly impossible to conceal a Jewish boy—people would recognize them instantly. I recall Moniek’s terrible condition; he was frail and infested with lice. In the end, he and his father had no choice but to return to the ghetto. Moniek died not long after, during the brutal forced labor imposed on them.” (Witness N°1555P, interviewed in Kosowy, on July 25, 2024)
Kosowy is a village in Poland, located in the Podkarpackie Province, Kolbuszowa County, within the Niwiska Municipality. It lies approximately 10 km (6.5 miles) northwest of Kolbuszowa. Limited archival information exists about the Jewish residents of Kosowy, and much of their history remains undocumented. According to local witnesses interviewed by Yahad, the pre-war Jewish community in Kosowy was small, comprising about six families.
Some of the names remembered by witnesses include Moniek and his son Nutym, Herszek, Szulim, Mr. Hunek and his son Moniek, and a man known as Ciapok. Before the war, both Polish and Jewish children attended the same school in the center of the village. Moniek Hunek, an only child from a poor Jewish family, was a classmate of one witness, as they were born in the same year.
The Jewish community in Kosowy was engaged in small-scale trade and farming. For example, some Jews sold eggs or lupin, while others, like a man named Fisiel, were farmers. Fisiel had two daughters—one emigrated to the United States before the war, while the other was killed and was buried in the forest of Nowa Wieś during the war.
Kosowy was located not far from Kolbuszowa, which in 1939 was home to a significant Jewish community comprising 1,756 people. It is presumed that the Jews of Kosowy attended the synagogue in Kolbuszowa and used the local Jewish cemetery for burials.
Few sources detail the fate of the Jewish community from the village of Kosowy. However, accounts from local witnesses indicate that the Jews of Kosowy shared the fate of the Jewish population in nearby Kolbuszowa. A ghetto was established in Kolbuszowa on June 13, 1941. On an unspecified day, the Jews of Kosowy and neighboring villages were gathered in the village square and subsequently forced to walk to Kolbuszowa, where they were confined in the ghetto. The ghetto was plagued by dire conditions, with starvation and unsanitary living environments leading to a high mortality rate.
On June 25, 1942, the Germans began the liquidation of the Kolbuszowa ghetto. Approximately 100 SS men surrounded the area, going house to house to forcibly gather all Jewish residents near the ghetto gates. The victims were then deported to Rzeszów, where they were sent to the Jasionka camp—where many were murdered or succumbed to starvation—or to the Belzec extermination camp. During the liquidation, many Jews were shot, and around 1,000 victims were executed and buried in mass graves at the Jewish cemetery in Kolbuszowa.
Despite the danger, some Jews from Kosowy and the surrounding areas attempted to evade deportation by hiding. However, many were eventually discovered, hunted down by the Germans, and executed. Testimonies collected by Yahad led to the discovery of a grave belonging to a Jewish man who was shot in Kosowy. According to the account, the man had been in hiding during the occupation, but by 1943, he could no longer endure the hardships of hiding and surrendered to the Germans, who executed him. Local Poles, under German orders, buried his body in a field near a small forest.
For further details on the fate of the Jewish community in Kolbuszowa, please refer to the corresponding profile.
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