Alternate names: Kuczbork [Pol], Kodzborg [Yid], Kuchbork [Rus], Kuczbork-Osada, Russian: Кучборк. 53°05' N, 20°03' E, 70 miles NW of Warszawa, 21 miles NE of Sierpc, 14 miles W of Mława. 1860 Jewish population: 342. Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), IV, p. 841: "Kuczbork". Kuczbork-Osada is a village in Żuromin County, Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland and the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Kuczbork-Osada, 11 km (7 mi) E of Żuromin. The village has a population of 310. Gmina Kuczbork-Osada contains the villages and settlements of Bagienice Duże, Bagienice Małe, Bagienice Nowe, Chodubka, Chojnowo, Gościszka, Kozielsk, Krzywki-Bratki, Kuczbork-Osada, Kuczbork-Wieś, Łążek, Mianowo, Nidzgora, Niedziałki, Nowa Wieś, Olszewko, Osowa, Przyspa, Sarnowo, Szronka, Wygoda and Zielona. [May 2009]
The first known documentation of Jewish settlement is from 1775 when the Diocese of Płock inspector wrote that " forty four Jews living in the town of Kudżborku, old and young people. ... In the whole parish, people sixty-three Jewish. ... Kudzborku Jews are very poor, have a little cubby hole ..." In subsequent years, the number of Jews in Kuczborku began to increase: 1827-291 (64.7%); 1857-314 (55.6%). In the mid-19th, the Jewish community was subordinate to the Żuromin kahal. Subsequently, a drastic decline in Jewish population occurred due to migration to larger cities, immigration to America and Palestine, and WWI. In 1921, only 32 Jews remained. After the outbreak of WWII in the autumn of 1939, Jews were deported from Germany to Kuczbork Mlawa and eventually to death camps.
CEMETERY: Located approximately 250 m east of the road to Sarnow near the Catholic cemetery, Płock diocese records say that cemetery existed in 1775 as "cemetery over the pond." As a result of damage to the 0.3 ha cemetery, few gravestones remain. In the collections of Jan Jagielskiego of the Jewish Historical Institute is the last photograph of gravestones found in 1986. Still, relics designate the boundaries of the site. photos. translation of archival materials. Map [May 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000366
Kuczbork-Osada is located in Ciechanow region at 53°05' 20°03', 11km from Zuromin. Cemetery: about 300m outside of town in the direction of Dzialdowo, around 100m past the Catholic cemetery. Present population is 1,000 with no Jews.
- Local: Tadeusz Burakowski, Urzad Gminy 09-310, ul. Mickiewicza 7a, Kuczbork Osada, Tel. 66.
- Regional: Krzysztof Kalisciak Wojewodzki Konserwator Zabytkow, ul. Mickiewicza 4, 06-400 Ciechanow, Tel, fax: 49-52.
- Local: Marian Konrad Klubinski, Pelnomocnik Wojewody d.s. Kontaktow z Koscidlami i Wyznaniami, (Province's Plenipotentiary for Contacts with Churches and Denominations), Urzad Wojewodzki, ul. 17 Stylznia 7, 06-400 Ciechanow., Tel. (823) 22-55, 20-51 w 238, Fax. 2665.
Earliest known Jewish community was 1775. 1921 Jewish population was 32. The unlandmarked cemetery was established in the 18th century with last known Jewish burial 1940. Orthodox, Sephardic Orthodox, Conservative, and Progressive/Reform Jews used the cemetery. The rural (agricultural) flat land by water and separate but near other cemeteries has no sign. Reached by crossing public property, access is open to all with no wall, gate or fence. The size of cemetery before WWII and now is 0.49 hectares. Fewer than 20 visible gravestones with less than 25% broken or toppled, date from the 19th century. Vegetation overgrowth and water drainage are seasonal problems that prevents access. The granite rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones, or finely smoothed and inscribed stones have Hebrew and Yiddish inscriptions. There are no known mass graves or structures. A regional or national governmental agency owns site used for Jewish cemetery only. Properties adjacent are agricultural. Rarely, private visitors and local residents visit. The cemetery was vandalized during World War II, but not in the last ten years. A regular caretaker cleared vegetation in the cemetery.
Wojcieck Henrykowski, ul. Spoldzielcza 20, 06-200 Makow Mazowiecki completed survey on 03/10/1991. Documentation: in collection of Panstwowa Sluzba Ochrony Zabytkow w Ciechanowie nr 18/85; Ziemia Olziejow Ziemi Plockiej, Plock 1984. He visited the site in September 1991 and interviewed the employees of the communal office in Kuczbork on the same date.