Cosel, Germany

COSEL (Polish Kozle) Upper Silesia, Germany, today Poland. Small-scale Jewish settlement began in 1373. In 1563, Jewish settlement in Cosel and the surrounding area was banned. Only in the 18th century were Jews again permitted to settle. Their number rose from two in 1750 to 112 in 1782. The community maintained a synagogue (from 1884), Jewish school (1820), and cemetery. It reached a peak population of 236 in 1880, earning its livelihood from leaseholds and the wholesale trade in cattle and grain. Emigration to the big cities reduced the Jewish population to 119 in 1910 and 84 in 1930. The Nazi racial laws were not enforced until July 1937 owing to the extension of the League of Nations' minority rights convention to the Jews of the area. Jewish children were subsequently removed from the local public school and transferred to the regional Jewish school in Ratibor. The synagogue was set on fire on Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938), and in 1939, 24 Jews remained. In June 1942, the Jews were deported to Poland together with the Jews of Gleiwitz. Eight remained on 19 Nov. 1942.