Alternate names: Kodeń [Pol], Kodni [Yid], Koden', Кодень [Rus], Kodnia, קודן-Hebrew. 51°54' N, 23°36' E, on the Bug River (Poland-Belarus border), 14 miles SSW of Brest-Litovsk, 22 miles ESE of Biała Podlaska. 1900 Jewish population: about 600. Yizkor: Koden - A shtetl no more (Hackettstown, NJ, 1996). Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), IV, pp. 238-240: "Kodeń". ShtetLink. Kodeń is a village and the site of a famous Marian shrine in E Poland on the western Bug river that forms the border between Poland and Belarus. Administratively part of Biała Podlaska County in Lublin Voivodeship, Koden is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Kodeń with about 1,900 inhabitants in 2006 and formerly in old woj. Bialskopodlaskie. Dependent settlements and villages are Dobratycze, Dobromyśl, Elżbiecin, Kąty, Kopytów, Kopytów-Kolonia, Kostomłoty, Kożanówka, Okczyn, Olszanki, Szostaki, Zabłocie, Zabłocie-Kolonia, Zagacie, and Zalewsze [June 2009]
According to the "Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, Jewish settlement in Koden was in the second half of the 18th century. Jewish population: 1857-748; 1861- 72; and 1931- 2,307 people including 628 Jews, but other sources say about 800. Before September 1, 1939, the Jewish population fell to 273. ("Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust" estimated around one hundred people.) During WW II, Jews were incarcerated in the ghetto with 105 Jews from Krakow. In September 1942, all were deported to the ghetto in Międzyrzecu Podlaskim, then to Treblinka. The synagogue in the heart of the village since at least 1698 was destroyed with building blocks now in the exhibition hall in Terespol. The wooden beit midrash was dismantled and used to build schools in nearby Dobromyśl. [May 2009]
CEMETERY: At the intersections of streets and the cooperative called Zastodolnej Polna, in 1941, preparing for the attack on the Soviet Union, Germans gathered gravestones and used them to build the road to Piszczac that locals. In 1976, local authorities set a fence that has been destroyed. Currently, no descendants of Koden Jews have displayed interested. The Jewish cemetery size involves some controversy. Some residents claim that the fencing covers an area larger than the cemetery. A large part today is a live cattle pen (Buchta) for the weekly market; however, the restorer of historic buildings and the oldest residents argue that the cemetery is on the lower ground, namely at the trees and grass. Photos [May 2009]
US Commission No. POCE000399 Map
Alternate name: Kodni (Yiddish). Koden is located in Bialskopodlaskie (Bialsko-Podlaskie) at 51°24' 23°36', 107 km NE from Lublin. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Urzad Gminy, 1 Magi 20, 21-509 Koden.
- Regional: PSOZ-WKZ, ul. Brzeska 41, 210500 Biala Podlaska.
- Caretaker of Jewish cemetery: Kazimierz Michzlczuk, Zastodolna 20.
Earliest known Jewish community was before 1623. Orthodox Jewish population in last census before WWII was 800. The isolated suburban flat land has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all. A broken fence with no gate surround. The present size of the cemetery is 0.28 hectares. No visible tombstones, mass graves, or structures. The Germans incorporated Removed stones into the road to Piszczac. The state owns site used for industrial/commercial use. The cemetery boundaries are smaller than before WWII due to new roads and commercial/industrial development. Private visitors visit rarely. The cemetery was vandalized during WWII. Local/municipal authorities cleared vegetation and fixed wall in 1976. The wall has now been destroyed. Vegetation is a moderate threat to cemetery due to trees planted 10 years ago.
Michal Witwicki, Demibowskiego 12/53, 02-784 Warszawa, tel. 6418345 completed survey 15 Aug 1991. Eleonora Bergman and Michal Witwicki visited the site 2 Aug 1991. The caretaker was interviewed.