Remember Jewish Kotzk (Kock)

HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

The Jewish community including a kahal were established in the early 1600s. In 1787, the Jewish population in town was 850, representing almost 50% of the community. By 1820, there were 549 Jews in the community. By 1895, the population of Jews had boomed and there were 3,037 in town. By 1937, the Jewish population in Kotzk was 2,213.

Jews leased a timber yard situated along the Wieprz River, which served as a waterway for floating timber downstream to Warsaw and Gdańsk. In 1855, the leaseholder of the yard was Moszek Michelsohn. By the late 19th century, Jews constituted the majority of Kock’s population. In 1895, out of the town’s 4,677 inhabitants, 3,037 were of the Jewish faith (64%). The Jews of Kock were primarily engaged in trade and artisanal crafts. According to data from 1828, 37 Jews paid fees for grazing livestock.

The Elementary School Society in Kock was established at the beginning of the 1800s. In the interwar period, it brought together not only Jews (80 people), but also Christians (260 people). The school, which operated under the auspices of the Society, was attended by both Jewish and Catholic children. The yeshiva operated starting in 1913. During the interwar period, there were several cheders in Kock, a Talmud-Torah school financed by the Jewish religious community, as well as a yeshiva. Among the teachers at religious schools in Kotzk were Beniamin Elemonowicz, Szaja Bakalarz and Szmul Szulimowicz. There was also a religious school for girls in the city, Bet Yaakov, affiliated with Aguda. At the beginning of the 1930s, it was attended by about 40 students. In addition to Jewish schools, children were obliged to attend a public state school. Teachers of Jewish origin, including Jachweta Rychtenberg, taught in this type of state school. After the end of lessons in a Polish school, many Jewish children subsequently would also attend a Jewish religious school.

There were two private houses of prayer in Kock, operated by Dawid Morgensztern and Berek Lewszuk. The location of these houses is unknown. The daily attendance was estimated at 40 people. Both were built in the 1800s. There was also a Jewish ritual bath (mikvah) in Kock and its exact location is unknown.

The Orthodox organization “Agudat Israel” had its branch in Kock in the interwar period. It was one of the largest Jewish organizations in the town with 120 members. Aguda ran a girls’ school. The organization B’nei Zion Union was established in Kock in 1919. It had 120 members. In the interwar period, a branch of the Zionist Organization of Religious-Orthodox Jews “Mizrachi” operated in Kock. It had about 30 members. The Jewish scout organization Ha’shomer Hatzair in Kock was founded on December 26, 1929. In 1933, it had 67 members. A branch of the Association of the Zionist Organization in Poland operated in Kock from October 4, 1929 to 1934. It had 25 members. The organization ran a library with a reading room. The Zionist Labor Party “Hitachdut” branch in Kock operated in the years 1925–1927. There is no data about its members.

Among the economic associations operating in Kock, it is worth mentioning the Jewish Cooperative Merchant Bank. It was established in 1926. In 1922, the Jewish Credit Cooperative was established in Kock. Further details of its functioning are unknown. In 1919, the Credit Cooperative of Jews in Kock was established. It was an economic association, probably having the character of a mutual loan fund.

In 1920, the Cooperative of Jewish Craftsmen began to operate in Kock. The details of the organization's activities are unknown. In 1930s, a branch of the Jewish organization League of Proletarian Culture, commonly known as the Kultur-League, operated in Kock. In 1938, it had over 70 members. There was a board of directors consisting of: president Szmul Chaskiel Szczeciniarz (tailor), Ryfka Knopfer (seamstress) and Lipa Heryng (tailor). The Association for the Care of Jewish Children and Orphans in Kock was founded in 1924. It had 110 members.

Official representatives of the Jewish community in 1930 included: Rabbi Josef Morgensztern, H. Zalcberg (assistant rabbi), Abram Szarfarc (ritual slaughterer), Aron Jakubowicz (position unclear), D. Lak (kashrut supervisor), H. Szef (scribe/teacher) and C. Marchewka (secretary).

KOTZK DURING THE HOLOCAUST

WHAT REMAINS

The synagogue in Kock was situated on Radzyńska Street, at a site now located at the intersection of Wojska Polskiego, J. Piłsudskiego, and H. Sawicka Streets. It was a large, 2-story building featuring a Neoclassical style and a richly decorated interior. The synagogue was built in the 1700s. In 1927, during renovations, its walls were re-painted and floors were replaced. Daily attendance at the synagogue was estimated at 300 individuals. In November 1939, the synagogue was burned down by the Germans. No material trace of the structure remains today.

The Jewish cemetery in Kock is located on St. John the Baptist Street (ul. Św. Jana Chrzciciela). Its current boundaries are defined by a modern fence composed of steel sections. The site covers an area of ​​approximately 1.75 hectares. The cemetery was established in the last quarter of the 18th century, during the urban reorganization of the town. It had replaced an earlier Jewish cemetery in Kock, the exact location of which is not known. In 1859, Menachem Mendel Morgenstern, the first Hasidic Rebbe of Kock, was buried there, and an ohel (shrine) was erected over his grave. The cemetery was desecrated by the Nazis. Additionally, executions of Jews were carried out on the premises, with the victims being buried on the spot. In the 1990s, a new fence was constructed, featuring a gate adorned with decorative metalwork elements.

Berek Joselewicz, a famous Colonel of the Polish army, was buried near the village of Białobrzegi near Kotzk, and a monument is located on the right side of the road from Kotzk to Białobrzegi in order to memorialize him.