in Kozienice History of the town dates back to 1206, when – together with neighboring villages, Kozienice was owned by the Norbertine Nuns from
Płock. Subsequently, it used to belong to Polish crown, and remained so until the
Partitions of Poland. In 1326 Kozienice was
incorporated by King
Władysław I the Elbow-high. Located on the ancient road from
Kraków to
Vilnius and on the edge of the Kozienice Forest, the town became one of favorite retreats of King
Władysław II Jagiełło, who founded a church there in 1394. Due to close proximity of the Kozienice Forest and, thus the easily accessible wood supply a
pontoon bridge was built over the river, which was later moved to
Czerwińsk and used by Polish troops to cross the Vistula (Wisła) between June 30 and July 3, 1410 (see
Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War). In 1467, future King
Sigismund I the Old In 1652, the town was decimated by a
cholera outbreak, and four years later, during the
Deluge, a battle between Poles and Swedes took place there. In 1782 Kozienice burns in a fire, and due to the efforts of King
Stanisław August Poniatowski, the town was rebuilt, and wooden buildings were replaced by stone houses. In 1784-1788, a manufacture, producing rifles, was founded in Kozienice. The 2nd Polish National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Kozienice in 1792. The town was annexed by
Austria in the
Third Partition of Poland in 1795. In 1809, Poles led by General
Józef Zajączek defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Kozienice, and the town then became part of the short-lived Polish
Duchy of Warsaw. After its dissolution in 1815 it fell to the
Russian Partition of Poland. In 1867, for the first time in history, Kozienice became the seat of a county. A road to Radom was built, as well as barracks of the
Imperial Russian Army. In 1897 it was inhabited by 6,391 people (including 3,764
Jews). In 1918 Poland regained independence and the town was reintegrated with the reborn state. After the joint German-Soviet
invasion of Poland, which started
World War II, the town was
occupied by Germany from 1939 to 1945, administratively included in the Radom District of the
General Government (German-occupied central Poland). As part of the
AB-Aktion, in June 1940, the Germans carried out mass arrests of Poles, who were afterwards imprisoned and tortured in
Skarżysko-Kamienna and then murdered in a forest near Skarżysko-Kamienna. The
Polish resistance movement was active in the town.
Jews in Kozienice Kozienice had a
Jewish community with a long history dating back to 1596. Kozienice is pronounced as "Kozhnitz" in
Yiddish. In the early 19th century, the Kozhnitzer Magid
Yisroel Hopsztajn was one of the pioneers of
Hasidism in Poland. He established the
Kozhnitz dynasty. In 1856, there were 2,885 people in Kozienice with 1,961 Jews, and in 1897, there were 6,882 people and 3,700 were Jews. Before World War II, about 15,000 souls lived in this region. The Jewish community lived there for about 400 years. The two main industries there were tourism, with Jewish pilgrims visiting the Maggid's tomb, and shoe manufacturing. Kozienice had approximately 5,000 Jews before World War II. After World War II the survivors emigrated and with time created the
Memorial Book of Kozienice, with supplementary
List of Martyrs from Kozienice which includes residents of Kozienice killed in Kozienice itself as well as those
deported to death camps where they were gassed. , the symbol of the town, contained in its coat of arms == Notable people ==