First Jews may have appeared in Kock as early as in the first quarter of the 16th century, at the time when the Firlej family became the owners of the town or, according to other sources, as late as the beginning of the 17th century.

The information appearing in some references and stating that Jews settled in Kock at the end of the 17th century probably refers to the period when the community was rebuilt after its destruction during the Chmielnicki’s invasion.

Documents from that period mention that about 50-100 Jews lived in the town. The community developed rapidly in economic and demographic terms, so that probably before the middle of the century an independent Jewish Community Co-operative was established here.

In 1648, the Chmielnicki's army decimated the local Jewish population but already at the beginning of the 18th century the Jewish Community Co-operative was rebuilt.

In a document issued in 1700, Maria de la Grange Wielopolska, the then owner of the domain, obliged the Jews living in Kock to work at repairing embankments and bridges, to serve as night watch and to help in case of fires and natural disasters. Duchess Anna Jablonowska, the heiress regulated the rights and duties of the Jews of Kock in a six-volume work published in 1786 entitled Ustawy powszechne dla dóbr moich rządców (English: General laws for the benefit of my governors). In 1773, the Duchess also issued a separate document entitled Uniwersał dla Żydów dóbr Kockich (English: Universal for Jews living in the Kock domains) including, among other things, a prohibition on them buying honey, wax and linen and alcohol counterfeiting.

At the time of the reign of Duchess Anna Jabłonowska (18th century), the Jews had their own separate judiciary, and the verdicts of the kahal court had to be approved by the Duchess. Cases between Jews and Poles were settled by the municipal court. Therefore the former had their own representative in the court. The Jews, just like the Poles, paid taxes in the form of grain to the public storehouse. Candidates elected to the kahal authorities had to obtain the approval of the court. The Duchess prohibited one person from holding two offices in the kehillah and close relatives from holding office. On 24th June each year, the Jewish community presented to the Duchess its annual accounts. The Jewish Community Co-operative paid the following taxes to the state: poll tax, roof tax, czopowe (liquor excise tax) and szelężne (tax on sold liquors). On the other hand, the court treasury received the following payments: posedyłka (capitation tax), lenung, kotłowe, ladowe (paid for stalls) taxes. The sale of a house, shop or stall by a Jew also required the consent of the court. Every Jew leaving the town was obliged to hand over 1/6 of his property to the public coffers, with the possibility of recovering it on his return, within a period of up to three years.

In 1787, Kock had 1,904 inhabitants, including 850 Jews (44% of the total).

In 1809, Berek Joselewicz, the commander of two uhlan squadrons of Prince Józef Poniatowski's army, was killed in a battle with Austrians near Kock.

In 1820, 549 out of 1,706 inhabitants living in Kock were Jewish (32% of the total population). In the course of the 19th century, among other things as a result of Kock's growing importance as a Chasidic centre, there was a rapid demographic development of the community [1.1].

In 1829, tzadik Menachem Mendel Morgenstern, known as the Kocker Rebe, a student of the tzadik from Przysucha, settled in Kock and founded a Hasidic centre in the town. He enjoyed great authority. Thanks to him, Kock was visited by Jews from all over Poland and even from abroad. Josef Morgenstern, Menachem Mendel's great-grandson, was the rabbi of Kock between 1924 and 1939. In the Jewish cemetery in Kock there is a concrete tomb of Mendel Morgenstern, which was built in the place of the former ohel.

The Jews rented a storage yard on the Wieprz River, which was used for floating timber to Warsaw and Gdansk. In 1855, Moszek Michelsohn was the leaseholder of the yard. At the end of the 19th century, Jews constituted the majority of the inhabitants of the town of Kock. In 1895, 3,037 out of 4,677 inhabitants of the town were of Jewish origin (64%). The Jews of Kock were mainly engaged in trade and handicraft. According to data from 1828, 37 Jews paid fees for grazing animals.

In 1907, 3,268 out of 5,197 inhabitants were of Jewish origin (62% of the total). In 1913, a yeshiva was opened in the town.

In the twentieth century, living conditions were very difficult in a town destroyed and depopulated by epidemics and warfare, resulting in a significant decline in the number of Jewish inhabitants. The local Jewish community rebuilt itself slowly, thanks in part to material support from the JOINT. From 1920, a soup kitchen for children from the poorest families operated in the town, and in 1924 the Association for the Care of Jewish Children and Orphans (Polish: Stowarzyszenie Opieki nad Dziećmi i Sierotami Żydowskimi) was founded. [1.2].

Jews from the villages of Tchórzew, Stoczek, Górka, Serokomla, Czarna and Motwica were subject to the Jewish Community Co-operative in Kock [1.3]. Under the supervision of the community there was a synagogue, a mikveh, a ritual slaughterhouse and a community Talmud-Torah school, as well as two private houses of prayer [1.4]. Most Jews made a living from crafts and trade.

In 1921, there were 3,738 inhabitants in Kock, including 1,529 Jews (40% of the total population). In 1937, there were 4,463 inhabitants, including 2,213 Jews (49% of the total population) [1.5]. In 1924 all bakeries, butcheries, oil mills and dye works in Kock belonged to Jews. Having said that, only one of the 10 butcheries was owned by a Jew.

Jews were also the owners of most of the more than 100 shops that existed here, many small craftsmen's workshops (some of which operated illegally), and businesses trading in grain and wood. There were Jewish co-operatives in the town (Jewish Craft Co-operative (Polish: Żydowska Kooperatywa Rzemieślnicza), "Jedność" Workers' Co-operative Association (Polish: Stowarzyszenie Kooperatywa Robotnicza "Jedność"), Jewish Merchants' Association (Polish: Związek Kupców Żydowskich) competing for influence with Christian organisations, Jewish trade unions (among others: Union of Leather and Allied Workers (Polish: Związek Robotników Przemysłu Skórzanego i Pokrewnych), Trade Union of Clothing Industry Workers (Polish: Związek Zawodowy Robotników Przemysłu Odzieżowego)) and craft guilds (Shoemakers' Guild, Cholewkarzy Guild, Saddlers' Guild, Tailors', Furriers' and Hatmakers' Guild), as well as credit unions, supporting the development of economic activity by granting low-interest loans (e.g. the Credit Cooperative (Polish: Spółdzielnia Kredytowa), the Co-operative Merchants' Bank (Polish: Spółdzielczy Bank Kupiecki), the Jewish Loan and Savings Society (Polish: Żydowskie Towarzystwo Pożyczkowo-Oszczędnościowe)) [1.6].

During the interwar period, numerous political parties and organisations were active in Kock, including the Zionist “Bnej Zion” association that existed from 1919, the Orthodox Agudas Isroel party, the Zionist-Orthodox Mizrachi party, and the Hitachdut Zionist Labour Party. Between 1929 and 1934, a division of the Zionist Organisation which ran a library and a reading room existed in Kock. Youth groups were also active in the town including the Zionist scout organisation Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair founded in 1929 and the Zionist-revisionist Brit Trumpeldor.

From 1921, there were illegal divisions of the Communist Party of Poland functioning in the town, the programme of which was supported by many Jewish inhabitants of the town, including a considerable number of members of trade unions operating there. Although there was no separate cell of the Bund in Kock, it had considerable influence in the socio-cultural organisations operating in the town, such as the “Kultur Liga” organisation or the local division of the Jewish Craftsmen Central Office (Polish: Centrala Rzemieślników Żydowskich). The representatives of Jewish organisations took an active part in the political life of the town - in 1919, the Town Council consisted of eleven Jewish councillors: Gerszon Bronsztejn, Abram Czarna, Szoel Handelsman, Jankiel Herc, Icek Krajcman, Lejzor Siemiatycki, Mojżesz Wajnberg, Majer Warum, Abram Zakalik, Chaim Szyja Zalcman and Jojna Zygielman.

There were also cheders and a communal Talmud-Torah and yeshiva (since 1913) in Kock, as well as a Beit Yaakov religious school for girls, affiliated to Agudas Isroel, which was attended by about 40 female students in 1932. Jewish children were also educated at the state comprehensive school.

There were also Jewish cultural and educational institutions, such as the Jewish Cultural Association (Polish: Żydowskie Stowarzyszenie Kulturalne), the Jewish Amateur Artistic Circle (Polish: Żydowskie Amatorskie Koło Artystyczne) and the I. L. Perec Jewish Library (Polish: Biblioteka Żydowska im. I. L. Pereca), which organised various cultural events and lectures.

In 1935, elections to the 19th Zionist Congress were held in Kock. Elected delegation of 33 members consisted of: 9 general Zionists, 17 Mizrachists and 7 people from the Workers' Aid League in Palestine (Polish: Liga Pomocy Pracującym w Palestinie).

During the first bombing of Kock, Rabbi Josef Morgenstern was killed together with his family of 16 members.

Soon after the Germans marched into Kock (9 October 1939), the Jewish population was forced to wear the Star of David sign on their clothes.

In 1940, a group of about 1,100 Jews from Nasielsk, Serock and Suwałki was resettled to Kock. In December 1939, there were 8,000 Jews in total in the town. Jews from neighbouring towns, including Firlej and Lubartów, were also brought to Kock. At the end of 1940, the Germans established a ghetto in what was then Żydowska Street (Polish: ul. Żydowska), near the Department Store and the Health Centre. Starvation, typhus and tuberculosis reigned there. More Jews were brought to the ghetto from other towns, including Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki.

At the beginning of 1940, the Germans set up a Judenrat headed by Saperstein, a refugee from Poznań. In 1941, a delegation of Jewish Social Self-Aid (Polish: Żydowska Samopomoc Społeczna) was established, which organised, among other things, a social kitchen. It consisted of: T. Szloma (chairman), I. Korman (deputy), L. Rubinsztein (member). The ghetto was closed at the beginning of 1942.

The first executions of the Jewish population were carried out by the Germans in January and June 1940. SS-men from Radzyń Podlaski were chosen to execute this task. They herded the Jews to the market square and then killed Abram Wodyński (a shoemaker). Other Jews were beaten, while the older ones had their beards set on fire. In the afternoon 62 of the 200 detainees were released. The rest were forced to march towards Radzyń Podlaski. Those who could not stand the pace of the march were killed. Those who reached Radzyń were transported by rail to Biała Podlaska, then to Terespol and Rososz, where they performed slave labour.

In August 1942, the Judenrat was forced to select 100 families to be deported to Parczew and then to the Treblinka extermination camp. Another deportation of 1,700 people took place in September. The Schupo shot 10 people then. Hundreds of Jews were transported to the ghetto in Łuków on 8 October 1942. The remaining inhabitants of the now vestigial ghetto, located between Warszawska Street (Polish: ul. Warszawska) and Wojska Polskiego Avenue (Polish: Al. Wojska Polskiego), were forced to work cleaning and sorting Jewish property. The ghetto was not fenced off. The deportations were supervised by the second platoon of the German 101st Reserve Police Battalion stationed in Kock. At that time, under the command of Major Wilhelm Trapp, many executions were carried out, during which hundreds of people were shot, including in the village of Talczyn, where also Poles were executed.

The liquidation of the Kock ghetto began on 6 November 1942. The Jewish community was transported partly to Łuków and then probably to the extermination camp in Treblinka. 200 people remained in the labour camp - a sawmill in Poizdów. The Germans devastated the Jewish cemetery and demolished buildings belonging to the community.

Less than 30 Jews from Kock survived the Holocaust. There are known cases of Poles rescuing them. Apolonia Machczyńska, married to Świątek, first hid 11 people, whom she then arranged with so-called “Aryan papers” and transport to Warsaw to the flat of her in-laws. One of this group, Rywka Goldfinger, who settled in Israel after the war, survived. Later, Machczyńska helped Jews hiding in the forest near her home. However, she was denounced by a Pole working for the Germans, who had been warned by a German policeman who had also helped her earlier. Machczyńska then hid in the village of Plebanki at her father's house. However, the Germans found her there and shot her [1.7]. Only Icek Zakalik (owner of a mill supplying electricity to Kock) among those in hiding in the forest managed to save himself. The Górczyński family also hid Jews, as well as the Kaznecki family in Wola Skromowska, where 6 Jews were also hidden by other villagers.

Between 1944 and 1946, there were attacks on Jews trying to recover their property in and around Kock. These incidents often ended in the death of a victim. This was the case of Chai Liss née Rybarczuk, who was hiding in Wola Skromowska, who was killed during an attempt on her property shortly after the liberation.

In 1949, a Polish court convicted 4 former members of the 101st Reserve Police Battalion for their involvement in executions near Kock. Major Wilhelm Trapp was sentenced to death. The criminal activities of the 101st Reserve Police Battalion in occupied Poland are the subject of a book by Christopher Browning entitled Ordinary Me : Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland (Polish edition, Warszawa 2000).

Bibliographical note

• Bańkowska A., Jarzębowska A., Siek M., Morderstwa Żydów w latach 1944–1946 na terenie Polski, „Kwartalnik Historii Żydów” 2009, no. 3(231), p. 362.
• Burchard P., Pamiątki i zabytki kultury żydowskiej w Polsce, Warszawa 1990, p. 162
• Crago L., Kock, [in:] Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1939–1945, vol. II, Ghettos in German Occupied Eastern Europe, Part A, eds. P. Megargee, M. Dean, Bloomington 2012, pp. 648–649.
• Futera T., Kalendarium miasta Kocka, Jarosław 1998.
• Futera T., Zarys historii Kocka w latach 1939–1947, [in:] Studia z dziejów Kocka, Lublin 2003, p. 106.
• Gajewski M., Dom cadyka, [in:] Kock. 580 lat miasta. Wybrane karty z historii, Kock 1997, pp. 18–19.
• Jop S., Przemiany demograficzne w Kocku od XV do XX wieku, [in:] Studia z dziejów Kocka, ed. R. Szczygieł, Lublin 2003, p. 61
• Kock, [in:] The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, ed. S. Spector, G. Wigoder, vol. 1, New York 2001, p. 640.
• Kock. 580 lat miasta. Wybrane karty z historii, Kock 1997.
• Mierzwiński H., Kock w okresie rządów księżnej Anny z Sapiehów Jabłonowskiej, [in:] Studia z dziejów Kocka, ed. J. Szczygieł, Lublin 2003, p. 78.
• Mierzwiński H., Dzieje Kocka do roku 1939, Warszawa 1990.
• Studia z dziejów Kocka, red. R. Szczygieł, Lublin 2003.
• Trzciński A., Śladami zabytków kultury żydowskiej na Lubelszczyźnie, Lublin 1990.
• Turski S., Kock i okolice, Lublin 1989, p. 12.