Kosow Poleski

The earliest reference to the Jewish community of Kosów Poleski dates to the late 16th Century. In 1878, the town was home to 1,279 Jews, who made up 60 percent of the total population. Most local Jews were either petty traders or small-scale farmers. In the aftermath of World War I, Kosów Poleski was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic. In 1921, there were 1,473 Jews in the town, comprising 60 percent of the total population. The Jews were assisted by a savings-and-loan association and a free-loan society. Local Jewish educational establishments included a yeshiva, a talmud torah, a Hebrew-language Tarbut school, and a Yiddish-language school that existed until the early 1930s. The community ran two Jewish libraries (in Hebrew and Yiddish) and two drama circles. Zionist parties and youth movements were active in the town. In September 1939, the Red Army entered Kosów Poleski in the aftermath of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the town became part of Soviet Belarus. Private businesses were nationalized, and all Jewish institutions and organizations were forced to disband. Kosów Poleski was occupied by German troops on June 25, 1941. Shortly afterward, the Jews were ordered to wear yellow badges, and a Judenrat was established. In July 1941, ten of the most distinguished members of the community were murdered; their murder site is unknown. Jews from nearby towns and villages were brought to Kosów Poleski in early October 1941, swelling its Jewish population to 2,250 people. In the winter of 1941-1942, some 300 young Jews were sent to perform forced labor on the road to Słonim. They were eventually transferred to Kozłowszczyzna and replaced by 300 others. In mid-June 1942, three ghettos were established in Kosów Poleski. The first of these, known as the “City Ghetto,” was located in a section of the town that had been fenced off with barbed wire; it was reserved for essential skilled workers and their families. The second one, known as the “Castle Ghetto,” was set up in Marczewszczyzna Castle; it housed the elderly and “useless” Jews. The third ghetto, nicknamed the “Court Ghetto”, was established in a nearby estate for the families of those who worked in Słonim and Kozlowszczyzna. On July 19, 1942, the Germans ceased to escort Jews to work, and the ghettos were cordoned off. On July 24, 1942, the patients of the Jewish hospital were shot; both their exact number and the location of the shooting site have remained unknown. The Jews who were working at German institutions outside the ghettos received advance warning, and they escaped. The population of the three ghettos was liquidated in late July 1942 in the vicinity of Marczewszczyzna Castle. Jews who had been found in hiding were murdered in other locations during some shooting operations. Several skilled workers were taken to Smolensk, where they worked for several months, before being transferred to various camps. Kosów Poleski was liberated by the Red Army on July 12, 1944.