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Kock is a town in eastern
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, about north of
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
and south-east of
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. It lies in
Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...
, in
Lubartów County __NOTOC__ Lubartów County () 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 reforms passed in 1998. Its ...
. It is the capital of the administrative district
Gmina Kock __NOTOC__ Gmina Kock is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. Its seat is the town of Kock, which lies approximately north-west of Lubartów and north of the regional capital L ...
. Historically Kock belongs to the Polish province of
Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...
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 (, ; ) is a river in central-eastern Poland, and 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 course near the to ...
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 The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...
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 ''Helichrysum arenarium'' is also known as dwarf everlast, and as immortelle. Description As a perennial plant, it grows to be an average of 0.3 m tall. The leaves are flat, the lower ones being elliptical in shape, while the upper ones are li ...
), 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 (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...
, who granted the charter upon request of Jakub, the Bishop of
Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...
. From 1512 Kock was shortly a royal town of Poland, and afterwards it was a
private town Private towns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were privately owned towns within the lands owned by magnates, bishops, knights and princes, among others. Amongst the most well-known former private magnate towns are Białystok, Zamość, R ...
, administratively located in the
Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...
in the
Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown Lesser Poland Province (, ) was an administrative division of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1569 until 1795. It was the largest province of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with Kraków as its capital. The province's name derives fro ...
. In 1518 the town belonged to Mikolaj Firlej, Crown
Hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...
and the
Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
of
Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...
. 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 kin ...
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, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
in Lesser Poland. Around the year 1750 Kock passed into the hands of Princess Anna Jabłonowska of the
Sapieha family The House of Sapieha (; ; ; ) is a Polish-Lithuanian noble and magnate family of Ruthenian origin,Энцыклапедыя ВКЛ. Т.2, арт. "Сапегі" descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk and Polotsk. Vernadsky, George. ...
, 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 A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...
(or 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, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...
visited Kock several times. Kock was annexed by
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
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 Polis ...
in 1795. It was regained by Poles in 1809 and included in the short-lived Polish
Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...
, and in 1815 it became part of so-called
Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of 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 was established w ...
in the
Russian Partition The Russian Partition (), 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 Poland. The Russian ac ...
of Poland. The residents of the town participated in the
January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
, 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), May 5, 1809, during the
Polish–Austrian War The Austro-Polish War or Polish-Austrian War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 (a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and allied states). In this war, Polish forces of ...
, * 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 Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...
, * December 25, 1863, during the
January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
, *
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 Russi ...
, August 14–16, 1920, during the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...
, *
Battle of Kock (1939) The Battle of Kock was the final battle in the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II in Europe. It took place between 2–5 October 1939, near the town of Kock, in Poland.Zaloga, S.J., 2002, Poland 1939, Oxford: Osprey Publish ...
, October 2–6, 1939, during the
Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet ...
, * August 1944, during the
Operation Tempest file:Akcja_burza_1944.png, 210px, right Operation Tempest or Operation 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 Arm ...
. After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Poland regained independence and Kock administratively belonged to the
Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...
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, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
during the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, which started
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Afterwards it fell under
German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...
, and already in October 1939, the Germans carried out executions of
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
at the local cemetery. During the occupation, the
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
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 is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
set up by the Germans in Kock. Kock was one of centers of the
Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
, 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 Princess Anna Paulina Jabłonowska née Sapieha (22 June 1728, Wołpa - 7 February 1800) was a Polish magnate and politician. She was known for her remarkable activity on her estates, in which she introduced social inventions as well as indust ...
(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 (Kock, Poland), 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 Has ...
) * Military cemetery with the grave of General
Franciszek Kleeberg Franciszek Kleeberg (1 February 1888, in Tarnopol – 5 April 1941, near Dresden) was a Polish general. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army before joining the Polish Legions in World War I and following the Polish Independence later the Polis ...
and Polish soldiers fallen in the
Battle of Kock (1939) The Battle of Kock was the final battle in the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II in Europe. It took place between 2–5 October 1939, near the town of Kock, in Poland.Zaloga, S.J., 2002, Poland 1939, Oxford: Osprey Publish ...
* Jewish cemetery (18th century)


Jews of Kock

In the 17th century, a
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish community was established in the town. In
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
, the community is known as Kotzk or Kotsk. Polish colonel of Jewish origin, Berek Joselewicz, leader of one of the first solely ethnic Jewish military units since
ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...
, and the first such unit in Poland, was killed in the Battle of Kock (1809) between Poles and Austrians. In the 19th century, the town became an important centre of
Hasidism Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...
as the longtime home of Rabbi
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk (Kock, Poland), 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 Has ...
, 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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
. In 1942, Kock's Jews were deported. In August, some were sent to Parszew and then on to
Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be 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, ...
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 (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
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 Historic Jewish communities in Poland