Kozlowszczyzna

It is not known when the first Jews settled in Kozłowszczyzna, but, by 1865, there was a synagogue in the village. The census of 1897 reported the presence of 325 Jews there. In 1921, when Kozłowszczyzna became part of Poland, it was home to 328 Jews, who made up the majority of the population. Most of the Jews made their living from agriculture. In September 1939, following the outbreak of World War II, Kozłowszczyzna came under Soviet occupation. Over the following month, dozens of Jewish refugees from German-occupied western Poland arrived in Kozłowszczyzna, swelling its Jewish population. The future partisan commander Dr. Yehezkel Atlas and his family were among these refugees. Under Soviet rule, Dr. Atlas set up the first hospital in the village. The Germans occupied Kozłowszczyzna at the end of June 1941. Anti-Jewish orders and decrees followed. On November 24, 1941, the Jews of Kozłowszczyzna, both locals and refugees, were shot in the forest 1-1.5 kilometers south of the village. The Germans spared some skilled Jewish workers, who were sent to ghettos in other locations in the area. Kozłowszczyzna was liberated by the Red Army on July 10, 1944.