Kock is a town in eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, about north of

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...

and south-east of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

. It lies in

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

, in

Lubartów County __NOTOC__ Lubartów County ( pl, powiat lubartowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lublin Voivodeship, eastern Poland. It was established on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government refo ...

. It is the capital of the administrative district Gmina Kock. Historically Kock belongs to the Polish province of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

and is located in its northeastern corner. , its population numbered 3,509.

Name and location

Kock is located a few kilometers north of the

Wieprz The Wieprz (, ; ua, Вепр, Vepr) is a river in central-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's ninth longest river, with a total length of 349 km and a catchment area of 10,497 km2, all within Poland. Its cour ...

river, approximately 150 meters above sea level, near the ''

Łuków Łuków is a city in eastern Poland with 30,727 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2005). Since 1999, it has been situated in the Lublin Voivodeship, previously it had belonged to the Siedlce Voivodeship (between 1975–1998). It is the capital of Ł ...

Lowland'' (''Równina Łukowska''). In 1952–1954 it was the seat of Gmina Białobrzegi. The town first appears in chronicles in 1258 as ''Cocsk''. In the 15th century, it was called ''Kocsko'' or ''Koczsko'', and in 1787, its name was spelled ''Kocko''. Current form has been in use since the 19th century, and the word Kock either comes from the last name or a nickname ''Kot'' (a person named so founded the town), or from a plant called kocanka ( Helichrysum arenarium), which grows abundantly in the area.

History

Kock has been recognized as an established community since the 12th century. It received its city charter in 1417, by King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. ...

, who granted the charter upon request of Jakub, the Bishop of

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...

. From 1512 Kock was shortly a royal town of Poland, and afterwards it was a

private town A private town is a town owned by a private person or a family. History of Private Towns in Poland In the history of Poland, private towns (''miasta prywatne'') were towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights, princes, etc. ...

, administratively located in the

in the

Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown Lesser Poland Province ( pl, Prowincja małopolska, la, Polonia Minor) was an administrative division of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1795 and the biggest province of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The name of the pro ...

. In 1518 the town belonged to Mikolaj Firlej, Crown

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

and the

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Provi ...

. The

Firlej family Firlej (plural: Firlejowie) was a Polish szlachta (nobility) family. Magnates in the 15th and 17th century. History According to Kasper Niesiecki, Ostafi of Lewart coat of arms came from Franconia, Germany, to Poland, in 1317, to serve Polish ki ...

owned Kock until the second half of the 18th century, and at that time the town became an important center of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in Lesser Poland. Around the year 1750 Kock passed into the hands of Princess Anna Jabłonowska of the Sapieha family, who invested a lot of money and energy into the town, ordering the construction of a town hall, a palace and a church. Furthermore, she established the

market square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.rynek). Polish King

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

visited Kock several times. Kock was annexed by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Poli ...

in 1795. It was regained by Poles in 1809 and included in the short-lived Polish

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

, and in 1815 it became part of so-called

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It ...

in the

Russian Partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of P ...

of Poland. The residents of the town participated in the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

, for which the Russians deprived Kock of its town rights (1870, recovered in 1915). Several important battles took place at Kock in the 19th and early 20th centuries: *

Battle of Kock (1809) The Battle of Kock was fought in 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, near the town of Kock in Poland. The battle saw the death of Polish Army colonel Berek Joselewicz, fighting against the Austrian Empire for the freedom of Poland. Course Lieu ...

, May 5, 1809, during the Polish–Austrian War, * 17–20 June 1831, and September 12, 1831 during the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in ...

, * December 25, 1863, during the

, *

Battle of Kock (1920) The Battle of Kock was fought between 14 and 16 August 1920 in the vicinity of the town of Kock in east-central Poland. The town was to serve as a bridgehead across the Wieprz river for Gen. Józef Piłsudski's counter-offensive against the Russ ...

, August 14–16, 1920, during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

, * Battle of Kock (1939), October 2–6, 1939, during the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, * August 1944, during the

Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest ( pl, akcja „Burza”, sometimes referred to in English as "Operation Storm") was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home ...

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Poland regained independence and Kock administratively belonged to the

of Poland. In 1927 large parts of it burned in a fire. The town, located away from rail connections, stagnated. On October 2–5, 1939, Kock was the site of the last battle between Poland and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

during the joint German-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

, which started

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Afterwards it fell under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...

, and already in October 1939, the Germans carried out executions of Poles at the local cemetery. During the occupation, the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

half of the Kock population, about 2,200 of the town's 4,600 population, was murdered or died of disease and starvation in the

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished ...

set up by the Germans in Kock. Kock was one of centers of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II, resistance movement in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed i ...

, whose units ( 27th Volhynian Home Army Infantry Division) freed the town on July 22, 1944. Afterwards, the advancing Soviets disbanded Polish soldiers. However, Kock was re-captured by Polish anti-Communist resistance (May 1, 1945).

Points of interest

* Jabłonowski Palace, a classicist palace erected by of Princess Anna Jabłonowska (1770), with an adjacent park * Parish Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1779–82) * The House of Józef Morgensztern (see

Menachem Mendel of Kotzk Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk, better known as the Kotzker Rebbe and the Kotzker (1787–1859) was a Hasidic rabbi and leader. Life Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidic philosophy in h ...

) * Military cemetery with the grave of General Franciszek Kleeberg and Polish soldiers fallen in the Battle of Kock (1939) * Jewish cemetery (18th century)

Jews of Kock

In the 17th century, a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish community was established in the town. In Yiddish, the community is known as Kotzk or Kotsk. Polish colonel of Jewish origin,

Berek Joselewicz Berek Joselewicz (17 September 1764 – 15 May 1809) was a Polish Jewish colonel of the Polish Army during the Kościuszko Uprising. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history excluding Prince Potemkin's Israelovsky. ...

, leader of one of the first solely ethnic Jewish military units since ancient times, and the first such unit in Poland, was killed in the

between Poles and Austrians. In the 19th century, the town became an important centre of

Hasidism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism ( Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of cont ...

as the longtime home of Rabbi

, the Kotzker rebbe who established the Kotsk dynasty. During World War II, Jews were brutalized by the German occupiers. They along with deportees from other villages, were confined to a ghetto. Though the pre-war Kock Jewish community was only about 2200, by late 1939, the ghetto contained 8000 Jews. Sometimes several dozen people resided in a single room. The overcrowding and lack of adequate sanitation led to a typhus epidemic. In turn, local Christian villagers would not allow Jews to leave the ghetto, so lack of food caused some children to starve. Conditions improved somewhat in 1940 as Jews were resettled in a different neighborhood. Nonetheless, there were epidemics of typhus and tuberculosis from what was still overcrowding and lack of adequate sanitation. By 1941, many Jews were conscripted for

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of e ...

. In 1942, Kock's Jews were deported. In August, some were sent to Parszew and then on to

Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, Masovian Voivodeship, vi ...

where they were immediately murdered. In September, able men were sent to labor camps, and in October, hundreds were sent to Lukow's ghetto where a few weeks later they too were sent to Treblinka to be murdered. During these months, there were several mass killings of Jews in Kock. Only about 30 of Kock's Jews are thought to have survived

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

during the war. Several were saved by Polish Christian villagers. One survivor was murdered in Kock after liberation. The Jewish community was not reestablished after the war. The brief discussion of the experience of the Jewish population of Kock is described in the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos.

References

External links

Rootsweb: Kock Gmina Page

Jewish cemetery in Kock
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lublin Voivodeship Lubartów County Lesser Poland Lublin Voivodeship (1474–1795) Siedlce Governorate Lublin Governorate Lublin Voivodeship (1919–1939) Historic Jewish communities in Poland Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust